Leif Erikson
Research done in the early 1960s by Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad, identified a Norse site located at the northern tip of Newfoundland. It has been suggested that this site, known as L'Anse aux Meadows, is "Leifsbúðir". The Ingstads demonstrated that Norsemen had reached America about 500 years before Christopher Columbus. Later archaeological evidence suggests that "Vinland" may have been the areas around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that the L'Anse aux Meadows site was a ship repair station and waypoint for voyages there. That does not necessarily contradict the identification of L'Anse aux Meadows with "Leifsbúðir" since the two sagas appear to describe "Vinland" as a wider region which included several settlements. The "Saga of Erik the Red" mentions two other settlements in "Vinland": a settlement called "Straumfjǫrðr", which lay beyond "Kjalarnes" promontory and the Wonderstrands, and one called "Hóp", which was located even farther south.
Leif was described as a wise, considerate, and strong man of striking appearance. During his stay in the Hebrides, he fell in love with a noblewoman, Thorgunna, who gave birth to their son Thorgils. Thorgils was later sent to Leif in Greenland, but he did not become popular.
Falkner Island
The identity of the first European explorer is unknown, but it was likely the Dutch explorer Adrian Block who sailed through Long Island Sound around 1614. The United States government credits Block as the discoverer. Early English settlers called it "Falcon Island", likely stemming from the Native American name. Helander writes that the island was probably named for the osprey, but the English translation to "Falcon" suggesting the presence of the peregrine falcon was one of "simple ignorance". The island's name on Dutch maps was "Valcken Eylandt". The name later evolved to Faulkner Island, perhaps as a result of the Faulkner family who lived on the island in the 1700s. When the island was transferred to the U.S. government in 1801, the deed states the name as "Faulkners". The U.S. Board on Geographic Names changed and established "Falkner Island" as its name in 1891. However, the name change is not universally recognized and "popular usage" and the Faulkner's Light Brigade that conserves the island's lighthouse use "Faulkner"; including publications.