Facts about Columbus Day

Christopher Columbus' real name was Cristoforo Columbo. He was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy Columbus Day Facts

Before he was an admiral and governor in the new world, Columbus was a pirate or privateer, who took part in attacks on Moorish merchant vessels Columbus Day Facts

Columbus almost never made it to America. He had a difficult time drumming up financial support for his first voyage and spent nearly a decade pitching his plan to monarchs in Portugal, England and France before he got the financing in 1492 from Ferdinand and Isabela of Spain Columbus Day Facts

Columbus' four voyages between 1492 and 1502 across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain brought him to the Caribbean Islands, South America and Central America. He never set foot in North America Columbus Day Facts

While the first voyage in 1492 was immensely significant, Columbus did not actually reach the American mainland until his third voyage in 1498. Columbus Day Facts

It is now generally accepted that Columbus was not the earliest European explorer to reach the Americas and that Viking sailors had ventured as far as Newfoundland around 1000 AD Columbus Day Facts

Complaints from settlers and natives about Columbus' tyrannical and brutal ways as governor of Hispaniola led to his arrest in 1500. He was brought back to Spain in chains, but was later freed by King Ferdinand, who financed his final voyage in 1502 Columbus Day Facts

Colorado was the first US state to make Columbus Day an official holiday. It became a US federal holiday in 1937 Columbus Day Facts

Columbus died when he was 55, in 1506, only two years after his last trip to the New World Columbus Day Facts

Nobody is sure where Columbus is buried as he was reburied many times in different places around the world Columbus Day Facts