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Columbus Day is a holiday celebrated by many countries in the Americas, commemorating the date of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World in 1492 and is celebrated on the 2nd Monday in October. The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day in the USA was held by the Tammany Society, also known as the Colombian Order, in New York on October 12, 1792, marking the 300th anniversary of Columbus’s landing in the Bahamas.

Unless you're a banker or work for certain government agencies, you probably don't have Columbus Day off, and for most the holiday is not celebrated at all except to maybe attend a parade. The exception would be certain Italian-American communities that celebrate Columbus Day in earnest due to the explorer's Italian heritage.

For many indigenous peoples, Columbus Day is reviled. After all, Columbus is the symbol for the colonization of the Americas, which resulted in whole tribes being violently wiped out.

Some questions for those who choose to comment:

Do you think Columbus Day is valid?

How do you celebrate it?

If you could replace Columbus Day with a celebration that pays homage to another historic figure who does not have a holiday, who would you choose and why?

Columbus Day Playlist

   1. World Before Columbus - Suzanne Vega   

   2. Christopher Columbus - Dinah Washington   

   3. Columbus - Burning Spear   

   4. Black Man - Stevie Wonder   

   5. Columbus - Mary Black   

   6. Out Of The Picture - Son Volt   

   7. Christopher Columbus - Culture   

   8. Christopher Columbus - The Nazz   

   9. Columbus - David Crosby   

   10. Dreamland - Joni Mitchell   

   11. Columbus Day - Sweep the Leg Johnny   

   12. Stand On It - Bruce Springsteen   

   13. Columbus: Unforgivable Sins - Peter Buffett   

   14. Goodbye Columbus - The Association   

   15. Premonitions Of Christopher Columbus - R. Carlos Nakai