Europe Wasn't "Discovered" by One Person—It Was Known Gradually

No single individual "discovered" Europe. Knowledge of the continent accumulated over millennia:

• Paleolithic hunters (40,000+ years ago).
• Neolithic farmers (from Near East, ~7000 BC).
• Bronze/Iron Age cultures (Minoans, Mycenaeans, Celts, Germans, Slavs).
• Greek & Roman geographers (Hecataeus, Herodotus, Strabo, Ptolemy) mapped the Mediterranean fringe.
• Vikings reached North America via Atlantic stepping stones.
• Medieval travelers (Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta) connected Europe to Asia.
• Age of Exploration (15th–17th c.) mapped coasts globally, but Europe itself was long known.

"Discovery" is a colonial-era framing; Europe's peoples always knew their home.