Columbus Day commemorates Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. Landing on Guanahaní in the Bahamas, Columbus established contact with indigenous populations. The holiday also marks the beginning of European colonization of the Americas, including the establishment of La Isabela in Hispaniola, the first permanent Spanish settlement.
In 1905, Colorado governor Jesse F. McDonald proclaimed the first statewide Columbus Day holiday.
In 1907, Columbus Day was made a statutory holiday in the state of Colorado.
In June 1915, the official holiday of 'Fiesta de la Raza' was established in El Salvador, setting October 12 as the date of the national holiday.
In 1916, President Hipólito Yrigoyen established the Day of the Race in Argentina by decree.
In 1917, Argentina first celebrated Día de la Raza (Day of the Race).
Since 1918, the Discovery of America and the Hispanicity has been celebrated as a national day in Spain under different names like "Día de la Hispanidad" or "Dia de la Raza", due to changes of political regimes in the 20th century.
In 1921, Venezuela officially established and began celebrating Día de la Raza under President Juan Vicente Gómez.
In 1922, Chile began celebrating Día de la Raza (Day of the Race).
In 1928, Mexico began celebrating Día de la Raza (Day of the Race).
In 1928, Our Lady of Guadalupe was appointed Queen of Hispanicity by the Vatican
In 1934, Congress passed a statute requesting the President to issue a proclamation designating October 12 as Columbus Day.
In 1936, Federico Laredo Brú became president of Cuba and served until 1940.
In December 1937, Cuban president Federico Laredo Brú and Dominican Republic president Rafael Trujillo sent aviators through Latin America to collect funds for a lighthouse, inspired by Columbus's journey. On December 15, two planes (Colon and La Pinta) were forced to land in Pisco and Niña disappeared in the storm. The expedition, consisting of Stinson Reliant SR-9s named Santa María, Niña and Pinta, and a Curtiss Wright CW-19R named Colon encountered a storm, resulting in crashes. On December 29 Niña, La Pinta, and Santa Maria crashed into high mountains, while Colon, unaware of the other aircraft, flew over the storm and safely made it to Panama City.
In 1937, Cuban President Federico Laredo Brú commemorated Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World on October 12. He spoke about Columbus's impact and venerated his efforts to colonize, expressing pride in his nation and its political infrastructure at the time.
In 1940, Federico Laredo Brú's presidency ended.
On Columbus Day in 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt announced the removal of the designation of Italian Americans as "enemy aliens" and proposed offering citizenship to elderly Italians in the U.S.
Following Italy's surrender to the Allies on September 8, 1943, the Italian Americans interned in camps were released.
In 1957, Spain changed its celebration from Día de la Raza to Día de la Hispanidad (Hispanicity Day).
In 1966, Mariano A. Lucca founded the National Columbus Day Committee in Buffalo, New York, to advocate for making Columbus Day a federal holiday.
On June 28, 1968, legislation was signed by President Lyndon Johnson to establish Columbus Day as a federal holiday, effective beginning in 1971.
In 1968, the National Council of La Raza, later known as UnidosUS, was founded. The organization was known as the National Council of La Raza from 1968 to 2017.
Beginning in 1971, Columbus Day became an officially recognized federal holiday in the United States, observed on the second Monday in October.
Since 1971, Columbus Day has been observed as a federal holiday on the second Monday in October in the United States.
In 1981, a royal decree established the Fiesta Nacional y Día de la Hispanidad as a national holiday in Spain.
In 1987, the name was changed again to Fiesta Nacional, and October 12 became one of two national celebrations, along with Constitution Day on December 6.
In the summer of 1990, 350 representatives from American Indian groups met in Quito, Ecuador, at the first Intercontinental Gathering of Indigenous People in the Americas, to mobilize against the 500th anniversary celebration of Columbus Day planned for 1992.
On October 10, 1992, Pope John Paul II visited the Dominican Republic to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas and the arrival of Christianity, concluding with a mass in the nation's cathedral.
On October 12, 1992, Native Americans declared it as "International Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People" at a follow-up meeting to the Quito conference to mobilize against the 500th anniversary (quin-centennial) celebration of Columbus Day.
In 1992, Berkeley, California, began eschewing Columbus Day and instead celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day.
In 1992, the Columbus Lighthouse was inaugurated in Santo Domingo Este on the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America. This monument serves as both a mausoleum and a museum.
On September 21, 1994, Costa Rica changed the official holiday from Día de la Raza to Día del Encuentro de las Culturas (Day of the Encounter of Cultures).
The first Hispanic March on Washington took place on Columbus Day in 1996.
In 2001, the Bahamas replaced Discovery Day with National Heroes Day.
In 2002, Venezuela changed its holiday from Día de la Raza to Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance).
On October 12, 2004, a crowd of progovernment activists toppled a statue of Christopher Columbus in Caracas, Venezuela.
In 2004, Columbus Day was officially celebrated in Italy and named Giornata nazionale di Cristoforo Colombo (National Christopher Columbus Day).
In 2004, the final volume of a compendium of Columbus-era documents was published, stating that Columbus exploited and enslaved the indigenous population.
In 2008, the walk where the Columbus statue had stood was renamed "Indigenous Resistance Walk" and later, a statue of an indigenous leader, Guaicaipuro, was erected on the plinth.
In 2009, Peru began celebrating Día de los pueblos originarios y el diálogo intercultural, which translates to Indigenous Peoples and Intercultural Dialogue Day, on October 12th.
Around 2010, New York City's Columbus Day Parade boasted over 35,000 marchers and an estimated one million viewers, making it the largest such celebration.
In 2010, Argentina changed the name of the holiday to "Day of Respect of Cultural Diversity" and replaced the Columbus statue with one of Juana Azurduy.
In 2017, the National Council of La Raza was renamed UnidosUS, which is the largest Hispanic social justice organization in the nation.
In 2017, the city council of Akron, Ohio, became divided along racial lines over the decision to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day, leading to pushback from the city's Italian-American community.
As of 2018, numerous cities, including Austin, Boise, Cincinnati, Denver, Los Angeles, Mankato, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle, Saint Paul, Phoenix, and Tacoma, had followed Berkeley's lead in celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day.
In 2018, Columbus, Ohio, removed Columbus Day as a city holiday, choosing to honor veterans instead of Christopher Columbus.
In 2018, a compromise was reached in Akron, Ohio, where the city council voted to name the first Monday of October as North American First People's Day while keeping Columbus Day.
On December 18, 2020, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador decreed that October 12 be renamed "Day of the Pluricultural Nation" in Mexico. The statue of Columbus was removed and replaced with a replica of The Young Woman of Amajac.
In 2020, Colorado replaced Columbus Day with Frances Xavier Cabrini Day, which is observed a week earlier.
In 2020, Columbus Day was renamed Italian-American Heritage and Culture Day in Akron, Ohio.
In 2020, Costa Rica eliminated the Day of the Encounter of Cultures holiday and now celebrates Military Abolition Day on December 1 in its place.
Since October 12, 2021, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador abolished the previous national 'Fiesta de la Raza' holiday to vindicate the origin and identity of indigenous peoples.
In 2021, Belize changed the name of Pan American Day, observed on October 12, to Indigenous Peoples' Resistance Day to move away from its colonial legacy.
In 2021, the Ministry of Culture of Colombia changed the name of the holiday to ‘Día de la Diversidad Étnica y Cultural de la Nación Colombiana (Day of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity of the Colombian nation).
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