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Discovery Day is the name of several holidays commemorating the discovery of land, gold, and other significant national discoveries.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2020) |
Discovery Day is the name of several holidays commemorating the discovery of land, gold, and other significant national discoveries.
The Bahamas Discovery Day was a public holiday on October 12, that celebrated the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World in 1492. It coincided with the Columbus Day celebrations of many other countries in the Americas. Columbus's initial landfall was on the now-unknown island of Guanahani in the Bahamas in 1492.
It was last observed as a holiday in 2012 and has been replaced by National Heroes Day holiday, which is a public holiday observed on the second Monday in October.
In Brazil, Discovery Day is observed on April 22 each year. This date commemorates the day when Pedro Álvares Cabral became the first European to land in Brazil in 1500 (although this discovery is contested by some).
In Yukon, Discovery Day is a public holiday on the third Monday in August commemorating the anniversary of the discovery of gold in 1896, which started the Klondike Gold Rush.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, it is observed on the Monday nearest June 24 and commemorates John Cabot's discovery of Newfoundland in 1497. In June 2020, it was announced that the name of the holiday would be changed in consultation with Indigenous groups in the province. [1] As of 2023 no new name has been assigned, and it still has the temporarily designated name of "June Holiday". [2]
Discovery Day in the Cayman Islands commemorates the discovery of the Sister Islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman by Christopher Columbus in 1503. The public holiday is celebrated on the third Monday in May.
March 6 marks the day in 1521 that Magellan's expedition dropped anchor in Umatac Bay.
December 5, the date in 1492 when Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Hispaniola in what is now Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti, is called Discovery Day. Today the island is shared by two countries: Haiti and the Dominican Republic which both recognize the holiday.
November 19, the date in 1493 when Columbus landed on the island is an official holiday. Not to be confused with Columbus Day, which is celebrated on the 2nd Monday of October in the United States, including Puerto Rico. [3]
Hispaniola is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the region's second largest in area, after the island of Cuba.
The history of the Caribbean reveals the significant role the region played in the colonial struggles of the European powers since the 15th century. In the modern era, it remains strategically and economically important. In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean and claimed the region for Spain. The following year, the first Spanish settlements were established in the Caribbean. Although the Spanish conquests of the Aztec empire and the Inca empire in the early sixteenth century made Mexico and Peru more desirable places for Spanish exploration and settlement, the Caribbean remained strategically important.
The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times from the Lokono of South America to the Taíno, who lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. All these groups spoke related Arawakan languages.
Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. Columbus went ashore at Guanahaní, an island in the Bahamas, on October 12, 1492. On his return in 1493, Columbus moved his coastal base of operations 70 miles east to the island of Hispaniola, what is now the Dominican Republic and established the settlement of La Isabela, the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Americas.
The Antilles is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east.
The Greater Antilles is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Navassa Island and the Cayman Islands. Six island states share the region of the Greater Antilles, with Haiti and the Dominican Republic sharing the island of Hispaniola. Together with the Lesser Antilles, they make up the Antilles.
Public holidays in Canada, known as statutory holidays, stat holidays, or simply stats, consist of a variety of cultural, nationalistic, and religious holidays that are legislated in Canada at the federal or provincial and territorial levels. While many of these holidays are honoured and acknowledged nationwide, provincial and territorial legislation varies in regard to which are officially recognized.
Civic Holiday is a public holiday in Canada celebrated on the first Monday in August.
Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African descent.
Pascua Florida is a Spanish term that means "flowery festival" or "feast of flowers" and is an annual celebration of Juan Ponce de León's arrival in what is now the state of Florida. While the holiday is normally celebrated on April 2, it can fall on any date between the latter parts of March and the first week of April, depending on the day of the week April 2 falls on and/or the Governor's discretion. Pascua Florida Day is a state holiday.
Heroes' Day or National Heroes' Day may refer to a number of commemorations of national heroes in different countries and territories. It is often held on the birthday of a national hero or heroine, or the anniversary of their great deeds that made them heroes.
Between 1492 and 1504, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, under the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, led four Spanish transatlantic maritime expeditions of discovery to the Caribbean, and to Central and South America. These voyages led to the widespread knowledge of the New World. This breakthrough inaugurated the period known as the Age of Discovery, which saw the colonization of the Americas, a related biological exchange, and trans-Atlantic trade. These events, the effects and consequences of which persist to the present, are often cited as the beginning of the modern era.
Indigenous Peoples' Day is a holiday in the United States that celebrates and honors indigenous American peoples and commemorates their histories and cultures. It is celebrated across the United States on the second Monday in October, and is an official city and state holiday in various localities. It began as a counter-celebration held on the same day as the U.S. federal holiday of Columbus Day, which honors Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. Many people do not observe Columbus Day at all, citing the lasting harm Indigenous tribes suffered because of Columbus's contributions to the European colonization of the Americas.
The languages of the Caribbean reflect the region's diverse history and culture. There are six official languages spoken in the Caribbean:
The Taíno were a historic indigenous people of the Caribbean, whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The Lucayan branch of the Taíno were the first New World peoples encountered by Christopher Columbus, in the Bahama Archipelago on October 12, 1492. The Taíno spoke a dialect of the Arawakan language group. They lived in agricultural societies ruled by caciques with fixed settlements and a matrilineal system of kinship and inheritance. Taíno religion centered on the worship of zemis.
Virgin Islands – Puerto Rico Friendship Day is a public holiday celebrated in the U.S. Virgin Islands on the second Monday in October.
The Columbus Quincentenary (1992) was the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' 1492 arrival in America. Similar to Columbus Day, the annual celebration of Columbus' arrival, the quincentenary was viewed contentiously, as different cultures and peoples had different ways of understanding Columbus' role in history. Certain institutions sought to celebrate this anniversary in commemoration of Columbus' momentous colonial and imperial achievements. Spain's Universal Exposition of Seville (1992) was elaborately planned to highlight Columbus' work and the overall European Age of Discovery. Italy's International Exposition of Genoa (1992) was themed "Christopher Columbus, The Ship and the Sea." In 1984, the United States designated the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission to execute a commemoration in honor of Columbus. In total, over 20 countries, including several Latin American countries and Japan, had committees to plan quincentennial celebrations.
The following lists events that happened during 2021 in the Caribbean.
The following lists events that happened during 2022 in the Caribbean.
The following lists events that happened during 2023 in the Caribbean.