Today is:

18 May 2012 (Gregorian)	5 May 2012 (Julian)	26 Iyar 5772 (Hebrew)	28th day 4th month 4710 (Chinese)
27 Jumada-al-Thani 1433 (Islamic)	28 Vaisakha 1934 (Saka)	18 Pruetsaphakhom 2555 (Thai)	2 'Azamat 169 (Baha'i)
29 Ordibehesht 1391 (Persian)	10 Genbot 2004 (Ethiopian)	4 Edavam 1187 (Malayalam)	10 Pashons 1728 (Coptic)
5 Vaikasi 107/26 Nandhana (Tamil)		The Moon is Waning

YESTERDAY:
Thursday, 17 May

TODAY:
Friday, 18 May

TOMORROW:
Saturday, 19 May

Ascension Day (Christian exc Orthodox)
Brown vs. Board of Education Topeka (US)
Father's Day (Germany)
Liberation Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
National Day (Norway)

Atatürk and Youth Day (Turkey)

Columbus Day

by Frann Leach

Dates in Gregorian calendar last year, this year:
Columbus Day (US): Monday, 10th October, 2011 , Monday, 8th October, 2012
Columbus Day/Dia de la Raza-Venezuela: Dia de la Resistencia Indigenia (Spain, South America): Wednesday, 12th October, 2011 , Friday, 12th October, 2012

Columbus Day is a special holiday for a lot of people in America. You and your family can make it more fun by making your own crafts. These are easy to do and your kids will have lots of fun doing it. This is a great way to spend some quality family time together and enjoy the holiday too.

One fun and easy craft for Columbus Day is to make May Flower Ships. You will need to have a half of a walnut shell, small piece of playdough, toothpicks, and a small square of white paper that can be used for the sail of the ship. Have the kids color the sails anyway they want to using colors. Then punch holes into their sails. Show them how to use the toothpick and stick it in one hole and out the other hole. Then the kids need to take the playdough and roll it into a ball. Place the ball of playdough on the bottom of the walnut shell and stick the toothpick into the ball of playdough.

Another fun craft that all kids will enjoy doing is the apple sailboat snack. This is great because not only can kids have fun making them but they can also have fun eating them. You will need a sliced apple, a piece of cheese in the shape of a triangle and a toothpick. Have the kids put the cheese onto the toothpick so that it looks like a sail and then stick the toothpick into the apple. Now they have a fun boat that they can eat and play with for a few minutes. These crafts will make your families Columbus Day more fun.

Columbus Day takes place on the second Monday in October in the USA and is also celebrated in many other parts of America as a whole. This is the same day which Canada uses to celebrate Thanksgiving. Columbus Day commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus and his fleet on 12th October 1492. Hawaii celebrates Discoverer's Day on the same day.

Many countries celebrate Columbus Day on the 12th, though they generally call it by different names. For example, much of latin America calls it Día de la Raza (Day of the Race), Costa Rica calls it Día de las Culturas (Day of the Cultures) in Costa Rica, Bahamians call it Discovery Day and since 2002 the Venezuelans have referred to it as Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance). It's also celebrated in Spain as both Día de la Hispanidad (Hispanic Day) and National Day.

In recent years, Columbus Day has become somewhat controversial in the USA. So much so that some people celebrate it as Indigenous People's Day instead - except in South Dakota, where it is known as Native American Day. In Minnesota, there is no official recognition of Columbus Day at all.

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Frann ("Tiggsy") Leach is the webmistress and owner of Which Day and TheWebsiteDesign.co.uk. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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Columbus Day

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