Today is Columbus Day in the United States. Columbus Day is celebrated to mark the arrival of the Genoese explorer's arrival in the Americas back in 1492.

The first celebration of Columbus Day is considered to be the 1792 New York commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Columbus' initial voyage to the Americas. Other regional efforts were made to celebrate this holiday especially among Italian-Americans who considered the holiday a time to celebrate their cultural heritage. Finally, in 1934, though the efforts of the Knights of Columbus, President Franklin Roosevelt and Congress made Columbus Day a federal holiday. In 1971, Columbus Day was changed from the fixed day of October 12th to be the second Monday in October.

The real Christopher Columbus was a very religious person. In fact, he was a third order Franciscan. Much more information about him can be found here including facts and myths about Columbus.