Christopher Columbus may not have been a great guy, but here’s your chance to explore some Columbus Day facts and trivia about the man who, in 1492, sailed the ocean blue. While some cities, including Seattle and Minneapolis, are shifting to celebrating Indigenous People’s Day instead, the federal holiday observed on the second Monday in October is Columbus Day, marking Christopher Columbus’ first voyage to America.
Columbus sailed the ocean blue in three famous ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, but only one of those three names is the official name given to the boat. Which one is it?
The Santa Maria. At the time of Columbus’ sailing, ships were named for saints, and the Santa Maria was the actual name of one of the boats. Another boat was named the Santa Clara but nicknamed the Nina after its owner, Juan Nino. The Pinta kname bestowed by sailors, meaning “painted one,” and it stuck so well that experts are no longer certain of the ship’s actual given name. Sailors called the Santa Maria “La Gallega,” because it was constructed in Galicia, a province of Spain.
On which of those ships did Columbus sail to the New World?
Columbus arrived in this hemisphere on the Santa Maria. That ship, however, ran aground on a coral reef near Hispaniola and could not be salvaged, so Columbus returned to Spain on the Nina.
How many times did Columbus sail across the Atlantic?
Columbus Day marks the explorer’s first trip, but not his last. He made a total of four trips to the Americas, checking out Caribbean islands, South America and Central America. He did not, however, set foot on the mainland of North America.
If Christopher Columbus wasn’t the first to discover the land that is home to the continental 48, who was? 
While there’s some debate, the general consensus is that Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer, holds the distinction of being the first European explorer to set foot on North America (excluding Greenland). He did so approximately 500 years before Christopher Columbus headed this way. Leif Erikson day is October 9, but it doesn’t get nearly the attention of Columbus Day.
Where is Christopher Columbus’ final resting place?
Since his death in 1506, Columbus’ remains have been on a bit of an odyssey. He was first buried in Spain but his daughter-in-law had his remains relocated to Hispaniola. They were then moved to Cuba and later returned to Spain following the Spanish-American War. There is some question as to whether some of his remains were left in Santo Domingo after the discovery of a box bearing the explorer’s name. The Dominican Republic has not consented to testing the remains inside the box, but the remains in Spain have been tested and linked to Columbus.
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