OCTOBER 12: Columbus Day
October twelfth is not celebrated as a holiday because it was the day when Christopher Columbus was born, but because it was supposed to be the date upon which Columbus first stood upon the ground which forms a part of the continent of America. The exact date of his birth is not known nor the exact place.
Columbus took many voyages in his life-time; he discovered many islands and made for himself a great and lasting name in history, but he never knew he had discovered a new continent! Always he thought that those places he had touched were parts of Asia.
And it seems quite sad to think of the times we’ve been applauded (and often, very justly too!) when we’ve recited well or played the piano well, while Christopher Columbus, who discovered America, did not even know of the great deed that he had done. Never had he any realization that in a new continent they would erect monuments to him, nor that in schools they would give pageants about his trip, his discouragements, his successes.
And his little son Diego, whom Queen Isabella made a page at the Spanish Court, could not boast to the others and say,
“My father has discovered a new continent, which is more than can be said for most fathers, and most people for that matter!”
For neither did little Diego know; and it has always seemed such a pity. It would have been so splendid a thing for any little boy to have been able to say!