The name 'America'comes from an Italian businessman called Amerigo Vespucci, who sailed to south America between 1499 and 1502. But he was not the first European to make the dangerous journey across the Atlantic. The Vikings came to 'Vinland' (probably Canada or New England) from Scandinavia around AD 1000, but they did not stay. Then, in 1492, a brave Italian sailor called Christopher Columbus reached the Caribbean while he was looking for a sea route from Europe to India. Columbus called he Native Americans 'Indians' because he thought that he had reached India. When Columbus returned to Europe he told people about adventures and other sailors like Cabot and Cartier followed him across the Atlantic. Europeans came to fish the rich seas of America too.