Today (October 9, 2023) is Columbus Day. In Alabama, this day is also American Indian Heritage Day and Brothers Day. Nationally, it is a federal holiday known as Indigenous Peoples Day and Columbus Day.
Columbus Day commemorates the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus’s landing in America in 1492. The annual celebration is on the second Monday in October, this year it is October 9th.
Columbus Day has become a controversial holiday in recent years. Native Americans and other groups protested the idea of celebrating the event that marked the beginning of the colonization of the Americas and the displacement of indigenous peoples. Columbus Day has been replaced by other holidays in some areas, including Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and South Dakota, which recognize Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
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The first Columbus Day celebration in the United States occurred in 1792, when a group of leaders in New York held an event to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the explorer’s historic landing. Similar events continued throughout the year until 1892, when President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation asking Americans to celebrate Columbus during the holiday season by “cesinging from labor and devoting themselves to such activities as may best express their respect for the discoverer and their gratitude to Columbus.” in the activity of love.” The great achievements of the last four centuries of American life. “
In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared Columbus Day a national holiday. The day was originally celebrated on October 12 each year, but was moved to the second Monday in October beginning with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1971.
Read more: Why mail couldn’t be sent on Monday 9 October
Here are the places open and closed on Columbus Day 2021:
- Federal offices are closed. Columbus Day is the eighth of 11 federal holidays in 2023. The others are Veterans Day (celebrated on Friday, November 10, and holidayed on Saturday, November 11); Thanksgiving, November 23; and Christmas, December 25.
- Many banks and credit unions are closed, please check with your local branch. The Federal Reserve Bank will be closed.
- The U.S. Post Office will not be delivering mail and post offices are closed.
- UPS and FedEx are open for business.
- Alabama offices and courts are closed; Columbus Day is one of 13 state holidays.
- Many county and city offices remain open. Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile are open.
- Redstone Arsenal and Marshall Space Flight Center are closed. Gates will be open according to holiday/weekend schedule.
- ABC stores are open.
- Stock markets (NYSE and NASDAQ) are open.
- Restaurants, malls, movie theaters – almost all restaurants, malls and movie theaters are open.
- National parks are open.
- Most libraries will be closed.
- Most department stores and restaurants will be open.
- Grocery stores will be open. Walmart and Target are open as usual.
- Trash and recycling collection schedules may change. Please check with your local provider for service changes.
