http://www.nbcnews.com/id/47288320/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/did-english-merchants-beat-columbus-america/#.XKkvANh7mM8
There is some speculation that English fisherman discovered the Grand Banks for cod, and dried their catch somewhere like Newfoundland, decades before Columbus sailed.
https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/exploration/bristol-explorers.php
I would not call England a different civilization. Its well known the Vikings had settlements in the New World long before Columbus. Columbus obviously drew the entire world to the New World, whether he was actually first or not.
Gimp is free and good