Well, I guess he did arrive at, explore, and exploit America, but whether my landsman, Cristofero Columbus, was actually the Numero Uno non-resident explorer to reach the continent, well, that is another story. As my kids have learned, Zheng, of the Far East, aka China, which, ironically was of course what C2 was looking for when he discovered/stumbled upon/dropped by America, may have been first, although of course there are folks who think the Vikings reached here before the first millennium.
An "amateur" British historian has some interesting insights into this issue:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1421_hypothesis
This historian's vision of a fleet of 800 Chinese ships circumnavigating the Earth 70 years before Columbus sailed is certainly cinematic, if nothing else.
And of course you can imagine where the People's Daily of Beijing weighs in on this:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200203/06/eng20020306_91553.shtml
So, from Brooklyn, in anticipation of the Columbus Day Weekend, hasta la vista, baby.
--Brooklyn Beat