Today is the observance of Columbus Day, which means that schools, banks, financial institutions, post offices and many governmental offices are closed. Remember that little rhyme from your school days, "In 14 hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." In addition, our neighbors to the north (and Polly Wog) are celebrating Thanksgiving Day in Canada today. And this is a rather early observance of Columbus Day.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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Now some history about Christopher Columbus, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Christopher Columbus (c. 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements in the island of Hispaniola, initiated the process of Spanish colonization, which foreshadowed the general European colonization of the "New World".

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