8 fun facts about Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day

You can thank good ol’ Christopher Columbus for this holiday. Columbus was an Italian sailor from Genoa, Italy. He landed in the Bahamas on Oct. 12 1494.  He sailed with three ships the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, along with 90 crewmembers. While majority of the world knows the basic facts of Columbus Day and who Christopher Columbus was, it seems fitting to learn some fun facts about the two that many of us may or may not know.

4 facts about Christopher Columbus and his voyage

· There are no portraits of Christopher Columbus that are known to exist, therefore nobody is quite sure what he looked like.

· Christopher Columbus has been reburied in many different places around the world.

· Pinta means “the painted one,” in Spanish. The Pinta ship was given its name by the sailors.

· A coral reef destroyed the Santa Maria on Christmas Eve in 1492.

4 facts about Columbus Day

· In 1934, President Roosevelt made Columbus Day a national holiday.

· Columbus Day was declared a federal public holiday on the second Monday in October by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.

· 22 states in the U.S. don’t celebrate Columbus Day.

· There are many names for Columbus Day as it is celebrated in many countries. Here are the differnent names in various countries:

Latin America - Día de la Raza

Bahamas - Discovery Day

Spain - Fiesta Nacional and Día de la Hispanidad

Argentina - Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural

Belize and Uruguay - Day of the Americas

Go out and use your new and refreshed knowledge on Christopher Columbus and this holiday!