Columbus Day

Columbus Day commemorates the landing of Italian-born navigator Christopher Columbus in the New World—i.e., the Americas—on October 12, 1492. It is a federal holiday in the United States, observed on the second Monday in October. The day typically involves parades, ceremonies, and celebrations for those who observe the occasion. Some celebrate Italian-American heritage on this day.

The day is also used as an opportunity to talk about what happened after Columbus arrived: the European colonization of the Americas and how it adversely affected the indigenous inhabitants. In some Latin American countries, the focus of the October 12 anniversary is on the indigenous peoples rather than Columbus’s arrival, with, for example, Día de la Raza (“Day of the Race” or “Day of the People”) being observed on that date in several countries and Día de la Resistencia Indígena (“Day of Indigenous Resistance”) being observed in Venezuela.

Spain also commemorates the anniversary of Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. It was Ferdinand II and Isabella I, Spain’s monarchs at the time, who sponsored the voyage that resulted in his “discovery” of the New World and led to extensive Spanish colonization there. For many years Spain celebrated October 12 as Día de la Hispanidad (“Hispanic Day”) and, since 1987, has observed it as Fiesta Nacional de España (“National Day of Spain”).