Columbus Day facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Columbus Day |
|
|---|---|
First Landing of Columbus on the Shores of the New World; painting by Dióscoro Puebla (1862)
|
|
| Observed by | Various countries in the Americas, Spain, Italy, various Little Italys around the world. |
| Type | Historical |
| Significance |
|
| Date | October 12 (actual/traditional); second Monday in October (observed in the United States) |
| 2024 date | October 14 |
| 2025 date | October 13 |
| 2026 date | October 12 |
| 2027 date | October 11 |
| Frequency | Annual |
Columbus Day is a holiday celebrated in many countries in the Americas. It remembers the day Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492. This event was a big moment in history.
Other similar holidays celebrate the same event. These include Día de la Raza in many Latin American countries. It is also called Discovery Day in the Bahamas. In Spain, it is known as Hispanic Day. In Venezuela, it is called Día de la Resistencia Indígena.
People have celebrated these holidays unofficially since the late 1700s. They became official holidays in different countries starting in the early 1900s.
Contents
Columbus Day in the United States
Many Italian-Americans see Columbus Day as a way to celebrate their heritage.
The first time Columbus Day was celebrated in the USA was in New York on October 12, 1792. The Tammany Society held this event. It marked 300 years since Columbus landed in the Bahamas.
Italians in San Francisco first celebrated Columbus Day in 1869. This followed Italian celebrations in New York City in 1866. The state of Colorado was the first to make it a state holiday in 1905.
In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made Columbus Day a national holiday in the United States. Since 1971, the holiday has been on the second Monday in October. This is the same day as Thanksgiving in nearby Canada.
Most Banks and government offices are closed on Columbus Day. However, public schools usually stay open. Also, most American employers do not recognize it as a day off from work.
How Columbus Day is Celebrated Locally
How Columbus Day is celebrated changes across the United States. Some places have big parades and events. Other places do not celebrate it at all.
Most states celebrate Columbus Day as an official state holiday. But many just call it a "Day of Observance" or "Recognition." At least four states do not recognize it at all. Most states that celebrate Columbus Day will close state services. Other states operate as normal.
San Francisco has the oldest continuous celebration. Its Italian-American community has an annual Columbus Day Parade. Nicola Larco started this parade in 1868. New York City has the largest parade. It has over 35,000 marchers and one million viewers.
Columbus Day is also a legal holiday in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. In the United States Virgin Islands, it is celebrated as both Columbus Day and "Puerto Rico Friendship Day."
Virginia celebrates two legal holidays on this day. They are Columbus Day and Yorktown Victory Day. Yorktown Victory Day honors the final victory at the Siege of Yorktown in the Revolutionary War.
Día de la Raza
The day Columbus arrived in the Americas is celebrated in Latin America. Some Latino communities in the USA also celebrate it. It is called Día de la Raza ("day of the race"). This day remembers the first meetings of Europe and the Americas. These meetings led to a new Mestizo race, culture, and identity.
Argentina first celebrated this day in 1917. Venezuela followed in 1921, Chile in 1923, and Mexico in 1928.
Why Some People Oppose Columbus Day
Some people do not like the Columbus Day holiday. This is especially true for Native Americans. They believe that honoring Columbus means celebrating the start of European colonization. They also feel it celebrates the difficult treatment of native peoples and the beginning of the slave trade.
In the United States, this has caused arguments between Native Americans and Italian-Americans. Some communities, like Berkeley, California, have changed the holiday's name. They now call it "Indigenous Peoples Day." In 2002, the Venezuelan government renamed the holiday. It is now called Día de la Resistencia Indigena ("Day of Indigenous Resistance"). In 2004, activists in Venezuela pulled down a statue of Columbus in Caracas on this day.
| U.S. federal holidays |
|---|
| New Year's Day | Martin Luther King, Jr. Day | Presidents' Day | Memorial Day | Independence Day Labor Day | Columbus Day | Veterans Day | Thanksgiving Day | Christmas Day |
Images for kids
-
The former Christopher Columbus Monument along Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico.
-
Plaza de Mayo in Argentina "Día de la Raza", with an imagen of Cristobal Colon, 1929.
-
Argentine government poster from 1947 including the concept of la Raza.
-
The Columbus Lighthouse in Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic
-
Monument to Christopher Columbus in Genoa, Italy
-
Statue of Christopher Columbus in Barcelona
.jpg)
See also
In Spanish: Día de la Raza para niños
