Columbus Day is on the second Monday of October, in the United States. .That means most federal offices are closed.
The holiday honors the first visit to America by the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. Columbus thought he could reach the Far East by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe. He was right, but he was also wrong. He thought the world was much smaller than it is. .
Columbus and his crew arrived in October 1492 on an island they called San Salvador, in today's Bahamas. They explored that island and nearby islands now known as Cuba and Hispaniola. . That is why he called the people who lived on the islands "Indians".
, even though local plants where he explored were unknown in Europe or Asia, and native people did not understand any languages spoken in the East.
Columbus made several other trips to what was called the New World. He saw the coast of South America and the island of Jamaica.
During his trips, Columbus explored islands and waterways, searching for a passage to the Indies. He never found it. . Yet, he always believed he had found the Indies.
A. It is a federal holiday
B. Columbus treated native people badly
C. He refused to accept he was wrong about the geography
D. Nor did he find spices or great amounts of gold as he had hoped
E. Other European explorers did land in what is now the United States
F. He did not imagine that another continent lay between Europe and East Asia
G. Columbus believed these were the coastal islands of East Asia, then called the Indies
