At the time of the fair, it was not widely known
that a Viking named Leif Erikson actually discovered America
in the year 1000 AD (almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus).
The Norwegians wanted to prove that this was possible despite
the simplicity of Viking ship design, so they built a Viking
ship and sailed it from Norway
to Chicago for the fair. The ship has a very small sail and a
crew of 38 to row the boat across the Atlantic Ocean.
Bancroft, Hubert
Howe. The Book of the Fair. Chicago: The Bancroft Company,
1893. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without
permission. |
