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Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who set sail across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a faster route to the New World. His first voyage to the New World on the Spanish ships the Santa María, Niña, and La Pinta took approximately three months. Columbus and his crew's arrival to the New World initiated the Columbian Exchange which introduced invasive species to the region.

The landing is celebrated as "Columbus Day" in the United States but the name varies on the international spectrum. In Latin America, October 12th is known as "Día de la Raza" or (Day of the Race). Some countries such as Spain refer the holiday as "Día de la Hispanidad" and "Fiesta Nacional" where it is also the religious festivity of la Virgen del Pilar. Belize and Uruguay celebrate it as Día de las Américas (Day of the Americas). Argentina's former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner officially adopted "Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural" (Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity) November 3, 2010. "Giornata Nazionale di Cristoforo Colombo or Festa Nazionale di Cristoforo Colombo" is the formal name of Italy's celebration as well as Little Italys around the world.

History[edit]
Celebration of Christopher Columbus's voyage in the early United States is recorded from as early as 1792. The Tammany Society in New York City (for whom it became an annual tradition) and the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the New World. President Benjamin Harrison called upon the people of the United States to celebrate Columbus's landing in the New World 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 the celebration of social progress.

Many Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, and the first such celebration was held in New York City on October 12, 1866. 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 governor 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 October 12 a federal holiday under the name Columbus Day.

United States Observance

Many Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, and the first such celebration was held in New York City on October 12, 1866. 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 governor 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 October 12 a federal holiday under the name Columbus Day.

Since 1971 (Oct. 11), the holiday has been attributed to the second Monday in October, coincidentally exactly the same day as Thanksgiving in neighboring Canada 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. The traditional date of the holiday also adjoins the anniversary of the United States Navy (founded October 13, 1775), and thus both occasions are customarily observed by the Navy and the Marine Corps with either a 72- or 96-hour liberty period.

Local observance of Columbus Day

Observance varies in different parts of the United States, ranging from large-scale parades, marathons, and other festivities. Most states celebrate Columbus Day as an official state holiday, though many mark it as a "Day of Observance" or "Recognition." Most states that celebrate Columbus Day will close state services, while others operate as normal.

San Francisco claims the nation's oldest continuously existing celebration with the Italian-American community's annual Columbus Day Parade, which was established by Nicola Larco in 1868, while New York City boasts the largest, with over 35,000 marchers and one million viewers.

As in the mainland United States, Columbus Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. In the United States Virgin Islands, the day is celebrated as both Columbus Day and "Puerto Rico Friendship Day."

Virginia also celebrates two legal holidays on the day, Columbus Day and Yorktown Victory Day, which honors the final victory at the Siege of Yorktown in the Revolutionary War.

Non-observance[edit]
The celebration of Columbus Day in the United States began to decline at the end of the 20th century, although many Italian-Americans, and others, continue to champion it. The states of Florida, Hawaii, Alaska,[dead link]Vermont, and South Dakota, do not recognize it and have each replaced it with celebrations of Indigenous People's Day (in Hawaii, Discoverers' Day, in South Dakota, Native American Day). In the state of Oregon, Columbus Day is not an official holiday.

Iowa and Nevada do not celebrate Columbus Day as an official holiday, but the states' respective governors are "authorized and requested" by statute to proclaim the day each year. Several states have removed the day as a paid holiday for state government workers, while still maintaining it—either as a day of recognition, or as a legal holiday for other purposes, including California and Texas.

U.S. cities that officially eschew Columbus Day to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day, began with Berkeley, California in 1992 and, as of 2018, include Austin, Boise, Cincinnati, Denver, Los Angeles, Mankato, Minnesota, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Seattle, St. Paul, Minnesota, Tacoma, and "dozens of others." Columbus, Ohio has chosen to honor veterans instead of Christopher Columbus, and removed Columbus Day as a city holiday. Various tribal governments in Oklahoma designate the day as Native American Day, or name it after their own tribe.

Latin American Observance

Argentina[edit]
The Day of the Race was established in Argentina in 1916 by a decree of President Hipólito Yrigoyen. The name was changed to "Day of Respect of Cultural Diversity" by a Decree of Necessity and Urgency 1584/2010 issued by President Cristina Kirchner. Under the likely influence of the Venezuelan government, the statue of Columbus was removed from its original position near the Casa Rosada and replaced by one of Juana Azurduy.

Colombia[edit]
Colombia, the only country in the world with a name originated from Columbus himself, celebrates El día de la Raza y de la Hispanidad and is taken as an opportunity to celebrate the encounter of "the two worlds" and to reflect on the richness that the racial diversity has brought to the culture.

Venezuela[edit]
Current state (June 6, 2006) of the Columbus Walk in Caracas. The statue was knocked down by activists after a "public trial" during the celebrations of the newly instituted "Day of the Indigenous Resistance" (October 12) in 2004. Between 1921 and 2002, Venezuela celebrated Día de la Raza along with many other Latin American nations. The original holiday was officially established in 1921 under President Juan Vicente Gómez. In 2002, under President Hugo Chávez, the holiday was changed to Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance) to commemorate the Indigenous peoples' resistance to European settlement. On October 12, 2004, a crowd of pro-government activists toppled the statue of Christopher Columbus in Caracas and sprayed allusive graffiti over its pedestal. The pro-Chávez website Aporrea wrote: "Just like the statue of Saddam in Baghdad, that of Columbus the tyrant also fell this October 12, 2004 in Caracas". The famous toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue had occurred the previous year.

Costa Rica[edit]
On September 21, 1994, Costa Rica changed the official holiday from Día de la Raza to Día del Encuentro de las Culturas (Day of the Encounter of Cultures) to recognize the mix of European, Native American (autochthonous populations), African and Asian cultures that constitute modern Costa Rican (and Latin American) culture and ethnicity. In accordance to the Costa Rican labor law, the holiday is observed on October 12. However, should this date coincide with a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, the employer shall agree that said holiday be postponed to the following Monday.

Brazil[edit]
In Brazil, Columbus Day is not celebrated. Instead, the country celebrates the arrival on the coast of present-day Brazil of the fleet led by Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral on April 22, 1500. This date is known in Brazil as "O Descobrimento do Brasil" (The Discovery of Brazil). The date began to be celebrated after the country's independence from Portugal, when Brazilian Emperor Pedro II instituted the date as part of a plan to foster a sense of nationalism among Brazil's diverse citizenry—giving them a common identity and history as residents of a unique Portuguese-speaking empire surrounded by Hispanic Republics of the Americas. The Discovery of Brazil was originally celebrated on May 3, but scholars in the nineteen century found definitive evidence proving April 22 to be the actual date of the arrival of Cabral's fleet on South American shores. In 2000, the government of Brazil used the date to celebrate 500 years of the existence of the country. The festivities, however, were met with protests by indigenous peoples who claimed it marked 500 years of genocide of indigenous Brazilians.

Caribbean observance[edit]
Only a handful of Caribbean countries still observe holidays related to Columbus Day. In Belize, October 12 is celebrated as Day of the Americas or Pan American Day. In the Bahamas, it was formerly known as Discovery Day, until 2001 when it was replaced by National Heroes Day. In 1937, Cuban President Federico Laredo Brú (1936-1940) spoke to the nation and countries of America in Cuba on 12 October commemorating Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. Federico Laredo Brú spoke about Columbus' impact on the the land and the future of its settlement. He ended his speech with venerating Christopher Columbus' efforts to colonize and establish settlements along the new front and the pride of ones nation. He added "Por mi raza hablo mi espiritu," which translates to "For my race my spirit called," in order to support the political infrastructure at the time. Columbus' Legacy in the Caribbean

December 1937, Cuban president Federico Laredo Brú and Dominican Republic president Rafael Trujillo ordered a crew of aviators to travel through Latin America collecting funds from large capital cities for a monumental light house in the Dominican Republic. The exploration Escuadrilla Binacional Pro Faro de Colón was inspired by Columbus' odyssey to the Americas where three of the four planes were named after the vessels that journeyed across the North Atlantic Ocean (Santa María, Niña, and La Pinta). The expedition consisted of three Stinson Reliant SR-9 borrowed from the Cuban Air Force and a Curtiss Wright CW-19R from the Dominican military aviation named "Colombo" after Columbus. On December 15, after visiting a majority of South America, their destination in Lima, Peru was prolonagted due to an unexpected sandstorm locally knows as Paracas. Pilots of the Colon and La Pinta were forced to land in the city of Pisco however La Nina disappeared in the storm. The Santa Maria was the only plane to reach the Peruvian Capital as planed where it landed at Las Palmas the day of the storm. After extensive searching rescue La Nina radioed from Lima announcing their whereabouts after their radio was damaged in the storm. The aircrafts restrategized in Las Palmas and on December 29 their expedition took of from El Techo airport in Bogotá en route to El Guabito airport in Cali. Later that day the crew flew into an unexpected storm with minimal visibility and poor navigation flying over the Valley of Cauca. La Nina, La Pinta and the Santa Maria flew straight into high mountains crashing to their deaths. Colon, unaware of the other aircrafts flew over the storm and safely made it to Panama City. The CW-19R Colon is still preserved today as remembrance of the the bravery of the crew and Christopher Columbus' odyssey. The Columbus Lighthouse stands today in the Dominican Republic.

Spain[edit]
See also: Fiesta Nacional de España

Since 1987, Spain has celebrated the anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the Americas as its Fiesta Nacional or "National Day". Previously Spain had celebrated the day as Día de la Hispanidad, emphasizing Spain's ties with Hispanidad, the international Hispanic community. In 1981 a royal decree established the Día de la Hispanidad as a national holiday. However, in 1987 the name was changed to Fiesta Nacional, and October 12 became one of two national celebrations, along with Constitution Day on December 6. Spain's "national day" had moved around several times during the various regime changes of the 20th century; establishing it on the day of the international Columbus celebration was part of a compromise between conservatives, who wanted to emphasize the status of the monarchy and Spain's history, and Republicans, who wanted to commemorate Spain's burgeoning democracy with an official holiday. Since 2000, October 12 has also been Spain's Day of the Armed Forces, celebrated each year with a military parade in Madrid. Other than this, however, the holiday is not widely or enthusiastically celebrated in Spain. There are no large-scale patriotic parades, marches or other events, but shops and businesses are closed as with other bank holidays. The observation is generally overshadowed by the feast day of Our Lady of the Pillar (Fiestas del Pilar). This holiday was been declared a religious feast day throughout the Spanish Empire in 1730. In recent years, celebration of the holiday has faced some opposition from various organizations.