Columbus Day is one holiday that needs to be reformatted. He never actually landed in America, and honestly had no idea where he was when he was in the area.
He had absolutely nothing to do with the United States.
Can you spell Amerigo Vespucci? LOL! Yup. He thought he was in Ind-jha. (The haughty john f’n kohn-heinz-kerryesque pronunciation)
Chris and Isabella sitting in a tree.....
I don't believe Columbus landed on the continent of North America in any of his three voyages, but he set in motion the settlement of the New World.
In any case, he has long been honored by Americans. At one time, many called our country Columbia, which is reflected today in the name District of Columbia. Hail, Columbia ! was our first national anthem, and Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean was once a popular patriotic song.
Columbus Day was a sop to Catholics because it “shows” that they were the “founding faith” in the hemisphere, as well as to what was then the growing Italian American population at the time.