Columbus Day celebrates Christopher Columbus’s Discovery of the Americas in 1492. Courtesy/wikipedia
COLUMBUS DAY News:
Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries in the Americas and elsewhere, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas Oct. 12, 1492.
The landing is celebrated as “Columbus Day” in the United States, as “Día de la Raza” (“Day of the Race”) in many countries in Latin America, as “Día de la Hispanidad” and “Fiesta Nacional” in Spain, where it also is the religious festivity of la Virgen del Pilar, as Día de las Américas (Day of the Americas) in Belize and Uruguay, as Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural (Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity) in Argentina, and as Giornata Nazionale di Cristoforo Colombo or Festa Nazionale di Cristoforo Colombo in Italy and in the Little Italys around the world.
These holidays have been celebrated unofficially since the late 18th century and officially in various countries since the early 20th century.
Columbus Day first became an official state holiday in Colorado in autumn of 1905, and became a federal holiday in the United States in 1937, though people have celebrated Columbus’s voyage since the colonial period.
In 1792, New York City and other U.S. cities celebrated the 300th anniversary of his landing in the New World. President Benjamin Harrison called upon the people of the United States to celebrate on the 400th anniversary of the event. During the anniversary in 1892, teachers, preachers, poets and politicians used rituals to teach ideals of patriotism. These rituals took themes such as citizenship boundaries, the importance of loyalty to the nation, and celebrating social progress.
Many Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, the first occasion being Oct. 12, 1866 in New York City. The day was first enshrined as a legal holiday in the United States through the lobbying of Angelo Noce, a first generation Italian, in Denver. The first statewide holiday was proclaimed by Colorado Gov. Jesse F. McDonald in 1905, and it was made a statutory holiday in 1907. In April 1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus and New York City Italian leader Generoso Pope, Congress and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed Oct. 12 a federal holiday under the name Columbus Day.
Since 1970 (Oct. 12), the holiday has been fixed to the second Monday in October, coincidentally exactly the same day as Thanksgiving in neighboring Canada fixed since 1957. It is generally observed nowadays by banks, the bond market, the U.S. Postal Service, other federal agencies, most state government offices, many businesses and most school districts. Some businesses and some stock exchanges remain open, and some states and municipalities abstain from observing the holiday.
