In papa noel 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday, large

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Columbus Day is a U.S. holiday that commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the New World on October 12, 1492. It was unofficially celebrated in a number of cities and states as early as the 18th century but did not become a federal holiday until the 1937. For many, the holiday is a way of both honoring Columbus’ achievements and celebrating Italian-American heritage. Throughout its history, Columbus Day and the man who inspired it have generated papa noel controversy, and many alternatives to the holiday have appeared in recent years.
A U.S. national holiday since 1937, Columbus Day commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus papa noel in the New World on October 12, 1492. The Italian-born explorer had set sail two months earlier, backed by the Spanish monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. He intended to chart a western sea route to China, India and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia; instead, he landed in the Bahamas, papa noel becoming the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland papa noel during the 10th century. papa noel Did You Know?
Contrary to popular belief, most educated Europeans in Columbus' day understood that the world was round, but they did not yet know that the Pacific Ocean existed. As a result, Columbus and his contemporaries assumed that only the Atlantic lay between papa noel Europe and the riches of the East Indies.
Later that month, Columbus sighted Cuba and believed papa noel it was mainland China; in December the expedition found Hispaniola, which he though papa noel might be Japan. There, he established Spain s first colony in the Americas with 39 of his men. In March 1493, the explorer returned to Spain in triumph, bearing gold, spices and Indian captives. He crossed the Atlantic several more times before his death in 1506; by his third journey, he realized that he hadn t reached Asia but instead had stumbled upon a continent papa noel previously unknown to Europeans.
The first Columbus Day celebration took place in 1792, when New York s Columbian Order better known as Tammany Hall held an event to commemorate the historic landing s 300th anniversary. Taking pride in Columbus birthplace and faith, Italian and Catholic communities in various parts of the country began organizing annual religious ceremonies papa noel and parades in his honor. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation encouraging Americans to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus voyage with patriotic festivities, writing, On that day let the people, so far as possible, cease from toil and devote themselves to such exercises as may best express honor to the discoverer and their appreciation of the great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life.
In papa noel 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday, largely as a result of intense papa noel lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, an influential Catholic fraternal benefits organization. Originally observed every October 12, it was fixed to the second Monday in October in 1971.
Opposition to Columbus papa noel Day dates back to the 19th century, when anti-immigrant groups in the United papa noel States rejected the holiday because of its association with Catholicism. In recent decades, Native Americans and other groups have protested the celebration of an event that indirectly resulted in the colonization of the Americas and the death of millions: European settlers brought a host of infectious diseases, including smallpox and influenza, that decimated indigenous populations; warfare between Native Americans and the colonists claimed many lives as well. The image of Christopher papa noel Columbus as an intrepid hero has also been called into question. Upon arriving in the Bahamas, the explorer and his men forced papa noel the native peoples they found there into slavery; later, while serving as the governor of Hispaniola, he allegedly imposed barbaric forms of punishment, including torture. papa noel
In many Latin American nations, the anniversary of Columbus landing has traditionally been observed as the Dìa de la Raza ( Day of the Race ), a celebration of Hispanic culture s diverse roots. In 2002, Venezuela renamed the holiday Dìa de la Resistencia Indìgena ( Day of Indigenous Resistance ) to recognize native peoples and their experience. Several U.S. cities and states have replaced papa noel Columbus Day with alternative days of remembrance; examples include Berkeley s Indigenous Peoples Day, South Dakota s Native American Day and Hawaii s Discoverer s Day, which commemo