Since 1937, Columbus Day, has been a U.S. federal holiday that recognizes the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492.
Even prior to becoming an established government holiday, much of America’s Italian-American community recognized October 12th to celebrate their heritage and achievements. Since the 1970s, many people have proposed the holiday should be changed to Indigenous People’s Day.
In August of 1492, Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer set sail aboard the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria on a western route across the Atlantic bound for China. Instead, he landed in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. For centuries, He was widely recognized as the first European to ‘discover’ the Americas.
While observed by the Italian and Catholic communities in the U.S. for more than a hundred years prior to its first recognition by the U.S. government, in 1892 President Benjamin Harrison issued a Presidential Proclamation proclaiming October 12 as “Columbus Day.”
In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation recognizing October 12th as Columbus Day, a national holiday at the encouragement of the Catholic fraternal organization known as the Knights of Columbus. Then in 1971, the federal government’s observance of the holiday was changed from October 12th to the second Monday of October.
For many countries in the western hemisphere, rather than celebrate the ‘discovery of the Americas by a European’, on October 12th, they have chosen to recognize the cultures of their own indigenous peoples. In 2021, President Joe Biden officially acknowledged the holiday as “Indigenous Peoples’ Day”; however, the federal government still formally recognizes it as Columbus Day.
So, whether you observe Columbus Day, or Indigenous Peoples’ Day, or you recognize neither or both, Insightful Accountant hopes you have a great Monday, October 12, 2026.