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Columbus Day honors the explorer Christopher Columbus, who first landed in the New World on October 12, 1492. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed October 12 Columbus Day. President Richard Nixon later declared Columbus Day a national holiday to be observed the second Monday of each October. Although it is a national holiday, Columbus Day is not without controversy. Some people choose to remember the victims of European exploration and settlement by observing the day as Indigenous Peoples Day. Who was Christopher Columbus? Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. He was born into what most would consider a middle class family. But like most children of the era, he was expected to begin preparing for a career at an early age. In his later writings, Columbus claimed he first went to sea at the age of 10. In 1470, following a shipwreck off the cost of Portugal, Columbus took up residence in that country. From there, he continued to sail, following established routes and making voyages as far as Iceland. But Columbus wanted to do more. Columbus wanted to find a shorter route to the lands described by Marco Polo some 200 years before -- China, Japan, India, and the East Indies. What's more, Columbus believed the secret to finding a shorter route lay in sailing west. With plans in hand, Columbus approached King John II of Portugal in 1485. He asked for three sturdy ships and enough money to fund a year's voyage of discovery. King John II referred the matter to his advisors. The advisors reviewed Columbus's plans. Columbus believed he could reach land in just five weeks, but the king's advisors thought the proposed voyage would take much longer. Ultimately, the advisors said the voyage would be a poor investment, and the king rejected Columbus's request. Columbus appealed to the court again three years later. By that time, though, Bartholomew Diaz had successfully sailed around the tip of Africa, and Portugal had lost all interest in western exploration. So Columbus took his plans on to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of Spain. Again, plans were referred to committee. Again, the committee believed Columbus had grossly underestimated the length of such a journey, and funding was refused. But the king and queen of Spain did not want Columbus to take his proposal elsewhere, so they provided him with an annual salary. They also issued a decree stating that he was to be given free food and lodging throughout the country. Still, Columbus wanted more. He found private investors to underwrite roughly the half the anticipated cost of his expedition and kept asking the crown for the rest of the money -- along with certain other provisions. If Columbus discovered new land, he was to be named "Admiral of the Ocean Sea." He was to be appointed governor of any newly-found lands. He also requested 10 percent of all revenues produced through new lands. At last, Columbus succeeded in persuading Ferdinand to underwrite the venture, and on the third of August 1492, Columbus set sail with 90 crewmen and three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. It was a dangerous voyage. No one had ever attempted to sail so far or so long without seeing land. After two months at sea, many of Columbus's crew wanted to turn back. They had already traveled much longer than originally planned, with no land in sight. Columbus insisted, however, that they press on. And on October 12, 1492, land was spotted -- land Columbus would call "San Salvador." Columbus believed he had reached an island off the cost of the East Indies and dubbed the native inhabitants "Indians" as a result. Columbus was wrong. He had, in fact, stumbled onto the Americas.