Final answer:
Leif Ericson is the European credited with discovering America first.
Step-by-step explanation:
The European credited with discovering America first is Leif Ericson, the Norse explorer and son of Eric the Red who settled Greenland. Although Norse explorers had reached Canada approximately 500 years before Christopher Columbus's voyage, it was Leif Ericson and other Norse explorers who established a presence in North America and laid the foundation for permanent contact with the continent.