Written by John LounsburySome researchers claim evidence exists that places many earlier explorers in the Americas. Chinese explorers may have reached the new world, not only in the early 1400s sailing across the Atlantic, but 1,500 years ago across the Pacific. Of course, Viking settlements from a thousand years ago have been discovered in Newfoundland, Canada. But there is some evidence that Europeans may have reached the New World as long as 20,000 years ago.