Not counting the Vikings the first European to explore North America was John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto). Why both the Spanish and English crowns chose to hire Italians for their Transatlantic explorations I do not know: it’s not as though Italy even has ready access to the open ocean.

The records of Cabot’s 1497 journey are surprisingly patchy, certainly compared to Columbus’s. It’s not even known quite where he landed: probably somewhere on Newfoundland but other theories exist. He probably did not land on the continent.