But the king and queen of Spain did not want Columbus to take his proposal elsewhere, so they provided him with an annual salary. Again, the committee believed Columbus had grossly underestimated the length of such a journey, and funding was refused. So Columbus took his plans on to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of Spain. By that time, though, Bartholomew Diaz had successfully sailed around the tip of Africa, and Portugal had lost all interest in western exploration. Ultimately, the advisors said the voyage would be a poor investment, and the king rejected Columbus's request.Ĭolumbus appealed to the court again three years later. Columbus believed he could reach land in just five weeks, but the king's advisors thought the proposed voyage would take much longer. King John II referred the matter to his advisors. He asked for three sturdy ships and enough money to fund a year's voyage of discovery. With plans in hand, Columbus approached King John II of Portugal in 1485. What's more, Columbus believed the secret to finding a shorter route lay in sailing west. Columbus wanted to find a shorter route to the lands described by Marco Polo some 200 years before - China, Japan, India, and the East Indies. In 1470, following a shipwreck off the cost of Portugal, Columbus took up residence in that country. From there, he continued to sail, following established routes and making voyages as far as Iceland. In his later writings, Columbus claimed he first went to sea at the age of 10. But like most children of the era, he was expected to begin preparing for a career at an early age. He was born into what most would consider a middle class family. It remained such until 1971, when Congress moved the official observance to the second Monday of October.Ĭhristopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. Roosevelt declared October 12th a federal legal holiday. In later years, other states did the same. Then, in 1937, President Franklin D. Seventeen years later, in 1905, Colorado became the first state to designate October 12th as a holiday. Harrison did not, however, make the day a national holiday. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus's landing in the Bahamas. After the Civil War, a group of Italian immigrants in New York organized the first real celebration of that discovery. In the years that followed, other groups of Italian immigrants did likewise. In 1792, a group called the Colombian Order organized a ceremony in New York City to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the new world. Three hundred years passed between Columbus's discovery of the America and the first known celebration of that discovery. It is celebrated as Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of the Indigenous Resistance) in Venezuela. It is celebrated as Día de la Raza (Day of the Race) in many parts of Latin America. October 12 is celebrated as "Discovery Day" in the Bahamas. Virtually all stores are open on Columbus Day, and many hold special sales.Ĭountries in North and South America remember Columbus's discovery in different ways. Schools, government offices, post offices, and banks are closed. It is also a day to celebrate the role Italian immigrants have played in making the United States great.Ĭolumbus Day is a legal holiday in the United States. The Holiday Zone: The History of Columbus DayĬelebrated the second Monday of October, Columbus Day is day set aside to commemorate Christopher Columbus's discovery of the Americas on October 12, 1492.
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