Columbus Day is a holiday, which is dedicated to the occasion of Christopher Columbus` discovery of the New World of the Americas. Now it is celebrated on the second Monday of October. In 2016 we celebrate it on the 10th so we get another three day weekend. Yeah!
And a little bit of history. The explorer from Italia intended to blueprint a sea way westward to China, India and Asia. Without suspecting, he intruded in the Bahamas and became the first European man, who explored the Americas.
After some time, Columbus descried Cuba and assumed it to be China; in winter the expedition discovered Hispaniola, and supposed that it was Japan. There, he settled first Spanish colony in the Americas.
Columbus traversed the Atlantic Ocean several more times before the end of his life. Only after his third journey, he got to know that he actually didn’t access Asia but instead he uncovered a mainland, which formerly was unexplored by Europeans.
For the first time Columbus Day was celebrated in 1792 in New York. Thereat was held a big holiday to commemorate 300th anniversary of a historic landing. The first state that discerned Columbus Day in 1905 was Colorado. In the next twenty years other states continued this tradition. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt announced every October 12 as Columbus Day. Since 1971, people started celebrating this holiday on the second Monday in October.
Today in the United States it’s a tradition to hold parades, banquets and dances. Teachers, writers and politicians take advantage of Columbus Day and teach patriotic ideas. Majority of states celebrate Columbus Day as a federal holiday, nevertheless many denote it as a “Day of Observance” or and at least five do not admit it at all.
To learn more about Columbus and his expeditions contact our History and Geography tutors, who will help you uncover the mystery of the Age of Discovery.
2 Responses to Facts You didn`t Know about Columbus Day