COLUMBUS DAY

Columbus day is on the second Monday of October. It remembers Christopher Columbus’ arrival to the Americas on October 12, 1492.   In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492. Millions of people lived in the Americas. Erik the red and his viking crew made the North Atlantic crossing to Newfoundland in 1000 A.D. 492 years before Columbus. It was unofficially celebrated in a number of cities and states as early as the 18th century but didn’t become a federal holiday until the 1937. The holiday is a way of honoring Columbus’ achievements and celebrating Italian-American heritage. The Italian-born explorer had set sail two months earlier. He intended to chart a western sea route to China. India and Asia. Instead he landed in the Bahamas, becoming the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland during the 10th century. During the month Columbus explored Cuba and believed it was mainland China. In December the expedition found Hispaniola, which he thought might be Japan. He established Spain’s first colony in the Americas with 39 of his crew. On March 1493 he returned to Spain looking for gold, spices and Indian people. He sailed the Atlantic many times before he died in 1506. He realized that he didn’t reach Asia.