Born in the republic of Genoa, Italy, Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and a
navigator. Although his exact place and date of birth is ambiguous, it is believed that he
was born in around 1451. Historians claim that Columbus worked as a seaman and later as
a maritime entrepreneur and was eager to find a western ocean route to India, China and
Islands of Asia where gold and spices were expected to be found. Europeans had to find
such a route at any cost because the Ottomans blocked the routes of Egypt and Red Sea for
Europeans. Leading four voyages in total, Christopher Columbus was welcomed back with
great honor by the Spanish court since he returned from an expedition to Bahamas with
gold, spices and some Indian captives. Columbus became the first European who explored
Americas in 1492.
Since Columbus discovered America that year, Columbus Day was officially declared a
federal holiday every year on the second Monday of October. While people began
celebrating this day in 1792, it was made official in the twentieth century. Columbus Day
is one of the only two holidays named after personalities, the other one being Martin
Luther King Jr. Day. While the latter is celebrated and accepted without much hesitation,
there are a lot of controversies about Columbus Day, which is not celebrated but opposed
in some states. The reason for these controversies is that many people believe Columbus
never actually discovered the New World and that around 100 million people were already
living there. Also, it is believed that Vikings was the first European to discover
Newfoundland in Canada while evidences suggest that Polynesians got settled in the South
of America prior to the arrival of Columbus to that place.