"There is also evidence that the Chinese visited about 70 years before Columbus." All of it made up from the whole cloth by one G Menzies, tripologist extraordinaire.

The Basque discovery of Newfoundland preceded Columbus (if it did) by less than a hundred years. It followed a vast improvement in the suitability of European ships for Atlantic conditions, largely the result of framed, carvel- planked construction replacing "stitched" clinker construction. This in turn allowed ships to support the more advanced sail systems that allowed them more freedom to sail against the prevailing Atlantic wind and current systems.

The Basques probably didn't accidentally discover the Grand Banks (if they did) by being blown there. They were using the new ship technology to exploit hitherto inaccessible fishing grounds, including Iceland (as were English fishermen). That would have taken them fairly naturally round the top of the currents to Labrador and Newfoundland- just as it did the Vikings.