columbus day

Most schools are out on Monday to celebrate and honor Christopher Columbus, so why not extend your weekend and stay an extra night? Most hotels and rental homes that are open in October offer special deals to guests who want to add a Sunday night to their weekend stay. This means you can enjoy Oktoberfest on both Saturday and Sunday and not have to worry about driving home on Sunday night. Spend some quality time with the family on an extended island getaway!

Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. The landing is celebrated as “Columbus Day” in the United States. As the day of remembrance of Our Lady of the Pillar, 12 October had been declared a religious feast day throughout the Spanish Empire in 1730. Reserve a Put-in-Bay rental home or condo for the weekend and enjoy the season.

The secular Fiesta de la Raza Española was first proposed by Faustino Rodríguez-San Pedro y Díaz-Argüelles in 1913. Here at Put-in-Bay, we enjoy it as a day off from school so parents can bring the whole family to the island for an extended weekend visit! Popular lodging facilities usually have great deals, specials, and low rates so everyone can enjoy!

A Short And Sweet History Of Columbus Day

Columbus Day is the holiday honoring Christopher Columbus’s sighting of America on October 12, 1492. It is observed in all 50 states of the United States and also in parts of Canada, Puerto Rico, and in some cities in Italy and Spain.

Although Columbus was not the first explorer to set foot in the Western Hemisphere, his landing at San Salvador Island in what is now the Bahamas was very important. It opened the way for the settlement of America by Europeans. It is likely that the first celebration honoring the event was held in 1792. Columbus Day became a legal holiday in the United States in 1892, 400 years after the famous voyage. It was then called Discovery Day. Many cities and organizations sponsor parades and banquets honoring the holiday.

October 12 is celebrated in Latin American countries not only as Columbus or Discovery Day, but also as the Day of the Race. It honors the many different peoples of Latin America. Schoolchildren in the larger cities join parades. Fiestas, sometimes lasting several days, are held in the areas with large Indian populations.

Interesting Columbus Day Facts:

  • Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He began sailing when he was 15 years old.
  • When he set sail for the expedition, he was given three ships by the city of Palos.
  • He set sail in August of 1492. It was 35 days before one of his sailors spotted land.
  • The names of the three ships were the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
  • His crew consisted of 90 men.
  • The goal of the expedition was to chart a western sea route to India and China, as well as to the islands in Asia with spices and gold.
  • When Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492, he was the first European since the 10th century to have the opportunity to explore the Americas.
  • The Santa Maria did not make the return trip to Spain because it ran aground on Christmas Day. 40 men had to stay behind because there was no room on the other two ships. They stayed behind on the island of Hispaniola.
  • Christopher Columbus actually made the voyage to the New World three times.
  • He died when he was 55, in 1506, only two years after his last trip to the New World.
  • Nobody is sure where he is buried as he was reburied many times in different places around the world.
  • Nobody is sure what he looked like, as there are no portraits known to exist.
  • In Latin America they call this day Día de la Raza; in the Bahamas they call it Discovery Day; in Spain they call it Fiesta Nacional and Día de la Hispanidad; in Argentina they call it Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural; in Belize they call it Day of the Americas, and in Uruguay they call it Day of the Americas.
  • President Roosevelt made Columbus Day a national holiday in 1934.
  • In 1971, the date October 12th no longer marked the holiday. It was changed to the second Monday in October. This is also the Canadian Thanksgiving, which was set in 1959.
  • South Dakota, Alaska and Hawaii do not recognize Columbus Day.
  • In Puerto Rico, Columbus Day is celebrated along with Puerto Rico Friendship Day.
  • In Virginia, Columbus Day is celebrated along with Yorktown Victory Day.
  • Because Christopher Columbus was Italian, Italian-Americans celebrate Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage.
  • Depending on where you live in the United States, you may see parades to celebrate the holiday. In most states, the children have the day off school.
  • New York City has the largest parade.