when i was 14 years old, i was attending the high school  and  i read  many books  that say christopher columbus was the first in discover america and still there are a lot of books that have this information. Although some books also say that the chinese discovered america,  i read some informations that say,  500 years before, a group of blond scandinavians had  done it. it happened during the viking era. it seems that is tough to believe that the chinese discovered america but i think that chinese discovered america because in that time china was super power in the world and had the tools  to do that journey. even though in that time wasnt hard to do a ship because they built of woods like mahogany, pine, and bamboo and others resources that they used that show us the chinese discovered america.