Columbus Day

Christopher Columbus was born on October 31, 1451,he was born in Italy.His name in Italian is Cristoforo Colomdo and his name in spanish was Cristobal Colon.The territory he was born in was a Republic Of Genoa.He was an Italian-born navigator who sailed in the service of Spain.He commonly described as the discoverer of the New World America. Although Columbus was in search of a westward route to Asia by sea, the discoveries he did make were more important and valuable than the route he had to find. It is certain, however, that Columbus was not the first European to cross the Atlantic. Documentary evidence supports claims that the Vikings reached the New World about A.D. 1000. And there is good circumstantial evidence, though no documentation, to suggest that both Portuguese and English fishing vessels made the crossing during the 14th century; they probably landed in Newfoundland and Labrador. Columbus, though he sailed a different route, followed many Europeans who earlier had crossed the Atlantic. Columbus first went to sea as a teenager, participating in several trading voyages in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. One such voyage, to the island of Khios, in modern day Greece, brought him the closest he would come to Asia.His first voyage into the Atlantic Ocean in 1476 nearly cost him his life as the commercial fleet he was sailing with was attacked by French privateers off the coast of Portugal.His ship was burned and Columbus had to swim to the Portuguese shore and make his way to Lisbon,Portugal, where he settled and married Felipa Perestrello.A couple days had passed and he had one son,Diego in about 1480.His wife died soon after and Columbus moved to spain,he had a second son named Fernando who was born out of wedlock in 1488 with Beatriz Enriquez de Arana.Then his life went on when Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid (Spain) on May 20, 1506, at age 55, following a heart attack.

Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries in the Americas and elsewhere which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in and the discovery of the American Continent on October 12, 1492. The landing is celebrated as "Columbus Day" in the United States, as "Día de la Raza" ("Day of the Race") in many countries in Latin America and as "Día de la Hispanidad" and "Fiesta Nacional" in Spain, where it is also the religious festivity of la Virgen del Pilar. It is also celebrated as Día de las Américas (Day of the Americas) in Belize and Uruguay, as Discovery Day in the Bahamas, as Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural (Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity) in Argentina and as Giornata Nazionale di Cristoforo Colombo or Festa Nazionale di Cristoforo Colombo in Italy and in the Little Italys around the world.These holidays have been celebrated unofficially since the late 18th century and officially in various countries since the early 20th century.Columbus Day first became an official state holiday in Colorado in 1906, and became a federal holiday in the United States in 1937, though people have celebrated Columbus's voyage since the colonial period. In 1792, New York City and other U.S. cities celebrated the 300th anniversary of his landing in the New World