Christopher Columbus Day - Free Coloring Pages

Christopher Columbus Day – Free Coloring Pages

Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator

Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator and explorer born in Genoa in 1451. His exact birthday is unknown. He made four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean between 1492 and 1504, helping begin a new era of European exploration and settlement in the Americas. These journeys changed history and also brought exploitation and colonization that deeply affected Indigenous peoples. Although Columbus has often been called the “discoverer” of the New World, the Americas were already home to many thriving communities and cultures.

Columbus Day’s original date, October 12, marks Columbus’s first landing in the Americas on October 12, 1492. The holiday commemorates that arrival, rather than his birthday. weather.gov

In 1934, Congress requested an annual presidential proclamation recognizing October 12 as Columbus Day. Then, in 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which set the federal holiday on the second Monday in October. That change took effect in 1971 as part of the move toward consistent Monday holidays and three-day weekends. USPS Employee News

In 2026, the second Monday happens to be October 12, so the holiday and the historical anniversary fall on the same day

He is called the “discoverer” of the New World

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain supported Columbus’s voyages. He hoped to find a new ocean route to Asia and set sail with great ambition. In April 1492, he received the title “Admiral of the Ocean Sea,” along with other honors and privileges that were later recorded in a document known as the Book of Privileges. Columbus died on May 20, 1506, in Valladolid, Spain.