Originally it was celebrated every October 12, but it was changed to the second Monday in October from 1971 as a result of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. In Massachusetts, for instance, schools will close, while in California, Columbus Day is not viewed as being a school holiday.Ĭolumbus Day was proclaimed a national holiday in the USA by then- President Franklin D. As a federal holiday, most government offices remain closed. Historically, they encouraged people to celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus discovery of what has been referred to as the 'New World. Columbus Day is now celebrated every year on the second Monday in October. The holiday used to be celebrated every October 12, but that was changed in 1971. Schools typically stay open on Columbus Day but the celebrations differ state by state. Columbus Day is observed on the second Monday in October and falls on the same day as Thanksgiving Day in Canada. The Presidents Proclamation On the Friday before the second Monday in October, the President of the United States usually proclaimed about Columbus Day. The city symbolically renamed Columbus Day as 'Indigenous Peoples Day' beginning in 1992 to protest the historical conquest of North America by Europeans, and to call attention to the losses suffered by the Native American peoples and their cultures through diseases, warfare, massacres, and forced assimilation. It celebrates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas on October 12, 1492. Why is Columbus Day a federal holiday?Īs a federal holiday, many government offices, banks and some private businesses will close on Columbus Day. The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day in the USA was on October 12, 1792, which was the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing, and it was organised by the Society of St Tammany, also known as the Columbian Order. This saw the end of a voyage that began 10 weeks earlier in Palos, Spain, although he was not the first European explorer to successfully cross the Atlantic.Īs a US Embassy website notes, Viking sailors are thought to have established "a short-lived settlement" in Newfoundland, Canada at some point in the 11th century, while scholars have also said there are other possible pre-Columbian dockings.
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