Columbus Day takes place every year on the second Monday in the month of October. For many decades the history books and school teaching in the United States have told us that the country was discovered by Christopher Columbus; however, they rarely made mention of the reality that America was already occupied by the Native Americans. There was also little mention of the fact that that the eastern coast of Canada had in fact been traveled thousands of years earlier by Nordic explorers.
In the 21st century Columbus Day can be celebrated more for the reality than the myth. Columbus Day is also sometimes known as Explorer’s Day. Columbus ‘discovered’ America back in the year 1492, having originally set sail on August 3rd but having had to stop for a month in the Canary Islands because of trouble with his ships. The ships then left the Canary Islands on September 3rd.
Columbus traveled with a total of three ships: Pinta, Santa Maria and Nina. Although he was an Italian, Columbus was unable to find funding for his voyages in Italy and turned to the King of Spain instead. The funding was provided by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
Columbus did not actually land on the mainland of the United States but on an island situated in the Caribbean. Although some think he landed on San Salvador, debate continues as to the real identity of the actual island he originally landed on.
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