Five Facts About Columbus Day

On this day, 519 years ago, Christopher Columbus wrote the following entry in his log: "Here the men lost all patience, and complained of the length of the voyage, but the Admiral encouraged them in the best manner he could, representing the profits they were about to acquire, and adding that it was to no purpose to complain, having come so far, they had nothing to do but continue on to the Indies, till with the help of our Lord, they should arrive there."

Within 24 hours, Columbus and his crew would make landfall in the Americas for the first time — an event he described in detail in his journal.

Though the famed explorer has been dead for centuries, his life and legacy are still the subject of heated debate. Many have called for the abolishment of Columbus Day on moral grounds. Critics such as James Loewen charge that Columbus' own journals and contemporary accounts reveal that he was a rapacious murderer and tyrant, not a hero.

In recent years, even his ethnicity has been called into question. In 2010, writer Manuel Rosa theorized that Columbus was the progeny of Polish royalty, not Italian, as previously thought. Rumors have also circulated purporting Columbus to be of Jewish extraction  

That leaves us with the basics:

1) Columbus Day commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus, an Italian-born master navigator and admiral, to the New World on Oct. 12, 1492. The day is always celebrated the second Monday in October.

2) Columbus set sail with the backing of Spain's King Ferndinad and Queen Isabella and the intention to chart a western sea route to China, India and other Asian islands. However, he landed in the Bahamas.

3) Columbus was the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Newfoundland and Greenland.

4) It was celebrated as early as the 18th Century in various cities and states, but did not become an official holiday until 1937.

5) The day is also meant to honor Italian-American heritage.

All the above information was taken from Fordham University's online archives, History.com, the History Channel's official website.