Columbus Day

For all of my growing up years Columbus Day was on October 12. I had no difficulty in remembering it as it was also my dad's birthday.  In 1971, "they" changed it to be always on a Monday.  The first year it changed was really weird ... it was October 9 -- MY birthday.  Wait a minute -- it's supposed to be on Dad's birthday!  Really feels weird.

From Wikipedia:
"Actual observance varies in different parts of the United States, ranging from large-scale parades and events to complete non-observance. Most states celebrate Columbus Day as an official state holiday, though many mark it as a "Day of Observance" or "Recognition" and three do not recognize it at all. Most states (including states where it is not a legal holiday) close schools and other state services, while others operate as normal.^{[citation needed]}

San Francisco claims the nation's oldest continuously existing celebration with the Italian-American community's annual Columbus Day Parade, which was established by Nicola Larco in 1868,^[8]while New York City boasts the largest.^[9][10][11]

As in the mainland U.S., Columbus Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. In the United States Virgin Islands, the day is celebrated as both Columbus Day and "Puerto Rico Friendship Day."^[12]

Virginia also celebrates two legal holidays on the day, Columbus Day and Yorktown Victory Day, which honors the final victory at the Siege of Yorktown in the Revolutionary War.^[13]

Hawaii, Alaska, and South Dakota are the three states that do not recognize Columbus Day at all, though Hawaii and South Dakota mark the day with an alternative holiday or observance. Hawaii celebrates Discoverers' Day, which commemorates the Polynesian discoverers of Hawaii on the same date, the second Monday of October,^[14][15] though the name change has not ended protest related to the observance of Columbus' discovery.^[16] The state government does not treat either Columbus Day or Discoverers' Day as a legal holiday;^[17] state, city and county government offices and schools are open for business. South Dakota celebrates the day as an official state holiday known as "Native American Day" rather than Columbus Day.^[18] Iowa and Nevada do not celebrate Columbus Day as an official holiday; however, the governor is "authorized and requested" by statute to proclaim the day each year.^[19][20] In Nevada, this probably has less to do with any objection to the celebration of the day than the fact that it is relatively close to Nevada Day, and schools and banks can only be closed for so many days.^{[citation needed]}

Several other states have removed Columbus Day as a paid holiday for government workers while still maintaining it either as a day of recognition or a legal holiday for other purposes. These include California and Texas."