The 9th of October marks the day designated day to celebrate the Norse explorer Leif Erikson, from Iceland, who actually ventured on to continental North America and took Vinland as a residence far before Christopher Columbus arrived to the Americas. 

He is said to have blown off course on a trip to Greenland and found himself in Vinland, now Eastern Canada. There it was said that he had come into contact with the indigenous people of Vinland, referred to as skrælingi. Their encounter with the indigenous people was originally friendly, but later on let to tension arising.

Erikson's successful journey to the West has motivated other Norsemen and Vikings to also make the journey. 

While there are many stereotypes associated with being a Viking, the biggest one of them is that they wore metal head protection with horns on them. There is actually no historical evidence for that. The pirating and pillaging of town scares Europe from the 8th to 10th centuries is also inaccurate. 

Source: MADISON.COM

https://madison.com/news/weird/things-to-know-about-leif-erikson-day-and-other-historical-facts-that-just-arent-true/article_acda17c3-2597-59b8-ad91-cdb39aef0f36.html