Columbus Day | History, Meaning, & Facts (2024)

Columbus Day, in the United States, holiday (originally October 12; since 1971 the second Monday in October) to commemorate the landing of Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492, in the New World.

Although his explorations were financed by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Columbus was a native of Genoa, Italy, and over the years Italian Americans took up the cause of honouring his achievement. The 300th anniversary of his landing was celebrated in New York City in 1792 by the Society of St. Tammany, or Columbian Order, and the 400th anniversary, in 1892, by presidential proclamation nationwide. During the latter half of the 19th century, the day began to be celebrated in cities with large numbers of Italian Americans, and in 1937 it became a national holiday by presidential proclamation. The day came to be marked by parades, often including floats depicting the ships of Columbus, and by public ceremonies and festivities. By the quincentennial in 1992, the holiday was an occasion for discussing the European conquest of American Indians, and some people objected to celebrating the event and proposed alternatives, among them Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

The landing of Columbus also came to be commemorated in Spain and Italy. In many of the Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas, the landing is observed as Día de la Raza (“Day of the Race” or “Day of the People”). Rather than celebrating Columbus’s arrival in the New World, many observers of Día de la Raza celebrate the indigenous peoples of Latin America and the culture that developed over the centuries as their heritage melded with that of the Spanish explorers who followed Columbus. In some countries religious ceremonies are an important part of the observances.