Leif Erikson
Anderson's book "America Not Discovered by Columbus " helped popularize the now familiar fact that Norse explorers were the first Europeans in the New World. Anderson was the originator of the movement to honor Leif Erikson with a holiday in the United States. Through efforts he started and led, Leif Erikson Day became an official observance in his native Wisconsin and other US states. Decades after Anderson's death, it first became a federal observance by presidential proclamation in 1964.