According to the material, who is named as the first European to discover Alaska?

• A. Vitus Berring
• B. Vitus Bering
• C. James Cook
• D. George William Stellers

Answer: (D)

The main idea here is who first opened Europe’s knowledge of Alaska by reaching its coast. Vitus Bering, sailing under the Russian flag in 1741, led the voyage that first brought Europeans to Alaska’s coastline and crossed the Bering Strait. That expedition is the event most historians point to as the discovery moment for Europeans. George Wilhelm Steller, the naturalist on that voyage, contributed crucial scientific observations about Alaska’s plants, animals, and people, but he wasn’t the one who first reached Alaska. James Cook explored parts of the region later, but he did so after Bering and did not precede him in making the discovery. So the recognized first European to discover Alaska is Vitus Bering.