Final answer:
Option (a), The Vikings were the first Europeans to reach North America around the year A.D. 1000, establishing a site in Newfoundland, Canada, before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.
Step-by-step explanation:
Around the year A.D. 1000, Vikings were the first Europeans to reach North America. Contrary to the popular belief that Christopher Columbus was the first to discover the Americas, it was actually Norse explorers like Leif Erikson who made contact with the continent five hundred years earlier. They ventured from Greenland and established a site in present-day Newfoundland, Canada, known as L'Anse aux Meadows.
This site has been archaeologically proven to date back to the era of Erikson's exploration, firmly establishing the Norse presence in North America before Columbus. However, these Norse settlements were not permanent, likely due to conflicts with Indigenous peoples, and the Greenland colonies eventually disappeared as well.