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Columbus day is the official celebration of the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492.

For the 400th anniversary in 1892, following a New Orleans lynching where a mob had murdered 11 Italian immigrants, President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as a one-time national celebration.

Many Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, and the first such celebration had already been held in New York City on October 12, 1866.