New York – Today is Columbus Day 2010 — a day when Americans celebrate the man who allegedly discovered America. Nearly 500 years after Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, the United States declared October 12th — or the nearest Monday — a federal holiday in honor of the national hero. [Alternate side parking is suspended] in New York City
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Little is known for certain about the early life of Christopher Columbus.
Many historians believe he was born in Genoa, Italy, and his name was Christoffa Corombo or Christoforo Colombo, or one of several other names.
Some historians, though, believe there is evidence to show that he was born on the island of Corsica (though it was then part of Genoa).
And some historians argue that he was actually a member of the Colom Jewish family in Ibiza and Catalonia.
On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus set out on his first voyage to what came to be known as the New World. With three ships and a crew of ninety, Columbus hoped to find a western route to the Far East. Instead, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria landed in the Bahama Islands.
While Columbus was not the first European to successfully cross the Atlantic, as Viking sailors are believed to have established a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland sometime in the 11th century, he did initiate a lasting encounter between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere.
In commemoration of Christopher Columbus’s landing in the New World (at San Salvador Island, also known as Waitling Island, today part of the British Bahamas) on October 12, 1492, Columbus Day is annually recognized.
The first Columbus Day celebration was held in 1792, when New York City celebrated the 300th anniversary of his landing in the New World. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison called upon the people of the United States to celebrate Columbus Day on the 400th anniversary of the event. Some Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, the first occasion being in New York City on October 12, 1866.
Columbus Day was popularized as a holiday in the United States by a lawyer, a son of Genoese immigrants who came to California. During the 1850s, Genoese immigrants settled and built ranches along the Sierra Nevada foothills. As the gold ran out, these skilled “Cal-Italians” from the Apennines were able to prosper as self-sufficient farmers in the Mediterranean climate of Northern California. San Francisco has the second oldest Columbus Day celebration, with Italians having commemorated it there since 1869.
A number of nations celebrate this encounter with annual holidays: Discovery Day in the Bahamas, Hispanic Day in Spain, and Dia de la Raza in much of Latin America. In 1937, Congress and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday to be held every October 12 (36 USC 107, ch. 184, 48 Stat. 657).
Since 1971, Congress moved the U.S. holiday from October 12 to the second Monday in October to afford workers a long holiday weekend. It is generally observed today by banks, the bond market, the U.S. Postal Service and other federal agencies, most state government offices, and many school districts; however, most businesses and stock exchanges remain open.
For more information on Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day, visit the Library of Congress.