Columbus Day ~ School Holiday for Students Bexar County

What

Columbus Day ~ School Holiday for Students Bexar County

When

10/12/2020

In-Service for Teachers

History of Columbus Day

Columbus' voyages across the Atlantic Ocean initiated the European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

While the first voyage in 1492 was immensely significant, Columbus did not actually reach the American mainland until his third voyage in 1498.

Instead, while trying to find a sea route to India, he made landfall on an island in the Bahamas that he named San Salvador.

While there had been celebrations in 1792 to mark the 300th anniversary, Columbus Day was first officially proclaimed by President Benjamin Harrison in 1892, to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the Bahamas.

With a large Italian immigrant population at the time, Colorado was the first US state to make Columbus Day an official holiday. Franklin Roosevelt established the first federal observance of Columbus Day in 1937. Since 1971, the holiday has been celebrated on the second Monday in October.