Well, I hope you’ve recovered from National Pierogi Day yesterday, because today is Columbus Day. Columbus Day is a federal U.S. holiday commemorating the voyage and landing of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in the “New World” on October 12, 1492. Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October — this year, that’s today, October 9.
Back in the day, scholars already knew that the world was round. People assumed a ship traveling west from Europe would sail clear through to Asia. But many believed that such a westward journey was impossible. Columbus (an Italian) thought it was possible to get to Asia by sailing west.and he persuaded King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to sponsor his exploration and search for riches.
On October 12, 1492, Columbus landed on a small island in the Bahamas. He was convinced that he had reached his intended destination of Asia. He wasn’t the first European to come across the Americas, but his expedition sparked enthusiasm for European exploration of the hemisphere and began a significant connection between the “Old World” and the “New World.”
The first celebration of Columbus’s landing in the New World occurred in 1792. It was organized by the Columbian Order (Society of St. Tammany) in New York City. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared the occasion a national holiday. Columbus Day has been observed on the second Monday of October since 1971.
Of course Columbus Day, like just about anything you can name today, is surrounded by some controversy. The issue is that it’s acknowledged that Columbus’ landing in the New World marked the start of a new age of exploration and development for the world, but the European colonization brought disease, enslavement and genocide to the indigenous people of the Americas. The argument is that this part of colonial history has been largely overlooked by Columbus Day celebrations.
Some cities and states are choosing to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the second Monday in October to honor Native American culture.
So today some locations choose to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of, or alongside, Columbus Day.
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