Happy Tyrant Day!!

Today was kind of nice. I had a day off due to Columbus Day, although I have to admit, I hate this holiday. In fact, I don't think it should be a holiday at all in the United States considering Columbus didn't even set foot in North America. I will give him credit for setting out across a vast ocean to "explore". But we all know he wasn't the first to find the new land. Leif Erikson did it years before him.....and the Native Americans hundreds of years before both of them. I remember growing up and being told in school that Christopher Columbus was this great explorer who was told the world was flat and therefore he could not get to the Asian continent but persisted in his dream. Funny thing is.....it is all crap!!! Search wikipedia about Christopher Columbus and you will find that he was not a great explorer at all. He was ruthless, mean-spirited, and incredibly selfish. At that time, many scholars, explorers, and mapmakers did not believe the world was flat...in fact, they knew it to be round. What they disputed was Columbus' calculations of how far he had to travel west to reach Asia (he was about 20,000km off!) and if not for his dumb luck in running into another land he would have perished at sea. His discovery led to thousands of people being killed, raped, or sold into slavery. He was even arrested for his crimes against humanity by the Spanish government (but later pardoned).

Of course, then I wondered why we are called "America". Turns out we are named after Amerigo Vespucci, another explorer of sorts. Although, he didn't really find anything new. A german mapmaker named Martin Waldseemuller was the first to create a map in 1507 with the new lands. For some strange reason he picked Amerigo to honor. Funny thing is that about 5 years later, this mapmaker had second thoughts about the naming and tried desperately to change it with no luck.

Now why do we celebrate Columbus Day anyway?? Leave that up to FDR. During the depression he wanted to create a national holiday in October in order to give workers a day off. He came up with this one. Of course today, many states don't celebrate this holiday. And some have changed it to suit there needs. Hawaii celebrates "Explorer Day" to kind of honor all. South Dakota calls it "Native American Day". Tennesee moves the day to the friday after thanksgiving to give all an extended vacation (I like this one :) In Illinois, school districts move the holiday to December 23rd.

And here in New York, well we have the day off. And apparently there was a huge parade down 5th avenue today to celebrate Columbus (i missed that one). Instead, I spent the day doing a little studying, some laundry, grocery shopping, and relaxing :)

Everyone have a great day!