Leif Erikson Day

Leif Erikson Day
Leif Erikson Day
	U.S. stamp issued on Leif Erikson Day, 1968 (featuring Reykjavík's statue of Leif)
Observed by	United States, parts of Canada, and communities in the Nordic countries
Type	Cultural
Significance	Celebrating Leif Erikson as the first European to lead a voyage to North America
Date	October 9
Next time	October 9, 2024
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Leif Erikson

Leif Erikson Day is an annual observance that occurs on October 9.^[1] It honors Leif Erikson (Old Norse: Leifr Eiríksson),^{[note 1]} the Norse explorer who, in approximately 1000, led the first Europeans believed to have set foot on the continent of North America (other than Greenland).^[2]

Because the exact date of Leif's arrival to the Americas is unknown, the October 9 date was chosen in commemoration of the Restauration's arrival to New York Harbor, carrying some of the first Norwegian immigrants to the United States. This means the holiday occurs before Columbus Day (although it is sometimes coincident with the US' observation of Columbus Day).^[3]

^ "Why Do We Celebrate Columbus Day and Not Leif Erikson Day?". National Geographic. October 11, 2015. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
^ "History – Leif Erikson (11th century)". BBC. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
^ Cite error: The named reference Forbes 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

[1] "Why Do We Celebrate Columbus Day and Not Leif Erikson Day?". National Geographic. October 11, 2015. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2015.

[3] "History – Leif Erikson (11th century)". BBC. Retrieved October 12, 2015.

[Forbes_2020-4] Cite error: The named reference Forbes 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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[note 1]

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