Columbus Day

Columbus Day
First Landing of Columbus on the Shores of the New World; painting by Dióscoro Puebla (1862)
Observed byVarious countries in the Americas, Italy, Spain, various Little Italys around the world.
TypeHistorical
Significance
DateOctober 12 (actual/traditional); second Monday in October (observed in the United States);
2023 dateOctober 9 (United States)
2024 dateOctober 14 (United States)
2025 dateOctober 13 (United States)
2026 dateOctober 12 (United States)
FrequencyAnnual

Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. Columbus went ashore at Guanahaní, an island in the Bahamas, on October 12, 1492.[a] On his return in 1493, Columbus moved his coastal base of operations 70 miles east to the island of Hispaniola, what is now the Dominican Republic and established the settlement of La Isabela, the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Americas.

Christopher Columbus (Italian: Cristoforo Colombo [kriˈstɔːforo koˈlombo]) was an Italian explorer[b] (from Genoa) who led a Spanish maritime expedition to cross the Atlantic Ocean in search of an alternative route to the Far East, only to land in the New World. Columbus's first voyage to the New World on the Spanish ships the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, and took about three months. Columbus and his crew's arrival in the New World initiated the colonisation of the Americas by Spain, followed in the ensuing centuries by other European powers, as well as the transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, and technology between the New and Old Worlds, an event referred to by some late 20th‐century historians as the Columbian exchange.[2]

The landing is celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States, but the name varies internationally. The United States celebrates this day as "The Discovery of America". In some Latin American countries, October 12 is known as Día de la Raza or "Day of the Race". This was the case for Mexico, until it renamed it to “Day of the Pluricultural Nation” (still called Dia de la Raza locally). Some countries such as Spain refer to the holiday as the Day of Hispanicity or Día de la Hispanidad and is also Spain's National Day or Fiesta Nacional de España, where it coincides with the religious festivity of La Virgen del Pilar. Since 2009, Peru has celebrated Día de los pueblos originarios y el diálogo intercultural ("Indigenous Peoples and Intercultural Dialogue Day").[3] Belize and Uruguay celebrate it as Pan American Day and Día de las Américas ("Day of the Americas"). Columbus Day is also celebrated in Italy, as Giornata Nazionale di Cristoforo Colombo or Festa Nazionale di Cristoforo Colombo, and in the Little Italys around the world.[4][5]


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  1. ^ Flint, Valerie I.J. (May 16, 2021). "Christopher Columbus". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  2. ^ Gambino, Megan (October 4, 2011). "Alfred W. Crosby on the Columbian Exchange". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  3. ^ "Cusco marks Indigenous Peoples and Intercultural Dialogue Day". Peru News Agency. October 13, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  4. ^ "Pagina iniziale". Portale di informazioni sugli integratori alimentari. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  5. ^ "Governo Italiano – Dipartimento per il Cerimoniale dello Stato". Governo.it. November 23, 2012. Archived from the original on May 22, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2015.

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