October 12, 2013
JFK HONORED COLUMBUS AT WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY 50 YEARS AGO TODAY
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy spoke at a ceremony in honor of Columbus Day, 50 years ago today, October 12, 1963.
The ceremony was held at 10 a.m. in the Flower Garden at the White House here in the Nation's Capital.
The ceremony was attended by Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morrison, historian and leader of the Harvard-Columbus Expedition of 1939-40 and Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Anthony J. Celebrezze.
The President said...
"I think Columbus has been a fascinating figure to me...partly because of his extraordinary skill as a navigator. Admiral Morison who...once followed Columbus' trip...found that...every marking along the Caribbean and the Central American coast as recorded in Columbus' diary was found to be exact with all of the modern instruments of navigation we now have."
JFK continued....
"I would think Columbus would have to be considered the foremost sailor not of his time but, I think, in history. All of us who have followed the great navigator to the United States have prospered and benefited."
COLUMBUS LANDED AT SAN SALVADOR 521 YEARS AGO TODAY
San Salvador (JFK+50) Christopher Columbus, sailing on behalf of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, made landfall 521 years ago today, October 12, 1492, after a long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
Columbus, born in Genoa, Italy, went ashore and claimed the land for the Spanish Crown. He named the island, which he believed to be somewhere off the coast of the East Indies, San Salvador or Holy Savior.*
*Columbus actually had landed in the Bahamas but since the existence of the Americas was unknown at the time, he incorrectly assumed he was somewhere off the coast of Asia.
Christopher Columbus
By Sebastiano del Piombo (1519)
The man who is credited with the discovery of America is honored in our Nation's Capital by the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain at Union Station.
The Memorial was dedicated in 1912 and the dedication ceremony, held on June 8, was attended by President William Howard Taft.
Columbus Memorial Fountain
Washington, D.C.
Photo by John White (2011)
The project was the work of American sculptor Lorado Taft and architect Daniel Burnham. The fountain was designed by Frederick MacMonnies.
The inscription on the memorial reads:
"To The Memory of Christopher Columbus Whose High Faith and Indomitable Courage Gave To Mankind a New World."
The Memorial is located at Massachusetts Avenue and 1st Street.
COLUMBUS DAY CELEBRATED ON MONDAY
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Columbus Day 2013 will be celebrated on Monday, October 14 in the United States. Since 1970, the holiday falls on the 2nd Monday of the month of October. We must wait until 2015 to celebrate Columbus Day on the anniversary of his "discovery of America," October 12.
3 states, however, do not recognize Columbus Day. They are Hawaii, Alaska and South Dakota. The city of Berkeley, California renamed Columbus Day in 1992 as "Indigenous People's Day."
In 1892, on the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America, President Benjamin Harrison called upon the people to celebrate.
Columbus Day was declared a Federal holiday in the U.S. in 1937. Angelo Noce, a 1st generation Italian of Denver, Colorado, lobbied for the holiday.
The day is celebrated in the Bahamas as "Discovery Day," and in Spain as "Fiesta Nacional."
ROBERT E. LEE DIED 143 YEARS AGO TODAY
Lexington, Virginia (JFK+50) Confederate General Robert Edward Lee, considered by military historians to be the best military officer on either side during the American Civil War, passed away at his home 143 years ago today, October 12, 1870, here in Lexington.
Lee, born at Stafford Hall, Virginia in 1807, was 63 years old.
General Lee, a graduate of West Point, turned down President Abraham Lincoln's offer to command United States troops in the Civil War.
Lee explained to the President that he could not "raise his sword" against his native state of Virginia.
Then, in 1861, when Virginia seceded from the Union, Lee resigned from the Army of the United States to join the Army of the Confederacy.
Robert E. Lee Monument
Lee Chapel
Lexington, Virginia
Photo by Jan Kronsell (2000)
JFK HONORED COLUMBUS AT WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY 50 YEARS AGO TODAY
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy spoke at a ceremony in honor of Columbus Day, 50 years ago today, October 12, 1963.
The ceremony was held at 10 a.m. in the Flower Garden at the White House here in the Nation's Capital.
The ceremony was attended by Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morrison, historian and leader of the Harvard-Columbus Expedition of 1939-40 and Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Anthony J. Celebrezze.
The President said...
"I think Columbus has been a fascinating figure to me...partly because of his extraordinary skill as a navigator. Admiral Morison who...once followed Columbus' trip...found that...every marking along the Caribbean and the Central American coast as recorded in Columbus' diary was found to be exact with all of the modern instruments of navigation we now have."
JFK continued....
"I would think Columbus would have to be considered the foremost sailor not of his time but, I think, in history. All of us who have followed the great navigator to the United States have prospered and benefited."
COLUMBUS LANDED AT SAN SALVADOR 521 YEARS AGO TODAY
San Salvador (JFK+50) Christopher Columbus, sailing on behalf of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, made landfall 521 years ago today, October 12, 1492, after a long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
Columbus, born in Genoa, Italy, went ashore and claimed the land for the Spanish Crown. He named the island, which he believed to be somewhere off the coast of the East Indies, San Salvador or Holy Savior.*
*Columbus actually had landed in the Bahamas but since the existence of the Americas was unknown at the time, he incorrectly assumed he was somewhere off the coast of Asia.
Christopher Columbus
By Sebastiano del Piombo (1519)
The man who is credited with the discovery of America is honored in our Nation's Capital by the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain at Union Station.
The Memorial was dedicated in 1912 and the dedication ceremony, held on June 8, was attended by President William Howard Taft.
Columbus Memorial Fountain
Washington, D.C.
Photo by John White (2011)
The inscription on the memorial reads:
"To The Memory of Christopher Columbus Whose High Faith and Indomitable Courage Gave To Mankind a New World."
The Memorial is located at Massachusetts Avenue and 1st Street.
COLUMBUS DAY CELEBRATED ON MONDAY
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Columbus Day 2013 will be celebrated on Monday, October 14 in the United States. Since 1970, the holiday falls on the 2nd Monday of the month of October. We must wait until 2015 to celebrate Columbus Day on the anniversary of his "discovery of America," October 12.
Columbus Discovers America
October 12, 1492
Painting by Dioscoro Teofilo Puebla Tolin
Library of Congress Image (1892)
3 states, however, do not recognize Columbus Day. They are Hawaii, Alaska and South Dakota. The city of Berkeley, California renamed Columbus Day in 1992 as "Indigenous People's Day."
In 1892, on the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America, President Benjamin Harrison called upon the people to celebrate.
Columbus Day was declared a Federal holiday in the U.S. in 1937. Angelo Noce, a 1st generation Italian of Denver, Colorado, lobbied for the holiday.
The day is celebrated in the Bahamas as "Discovery Day," and in Spain as "Fiesta Nacional."
ROBERT E. LEE DIED 143 YEARS AGO TODAY
Lexington, Virginia (JFK+50) Confederate General Robert Edward Lee, considered by military historians to be the best military officer on either side during the American Civil War, passed away at his home 143 years ago today, October 12, 1870, here in Lexington.
Lee, born at Stafford Hall, Virginia in 1807, was 63 years old.
General Lee, a graduate of West Point, turned down President Abraham Lincoln's offer to command United States troops in the Civil War.
Lee explained to the President that he could not "raise his sword" against his native state of Virginia.
Then, in 1861, when Virginia seceded from the Union, Lee resigned from the Army of the United States to join the Army of the Confederacy.
Robert E. Lee Monument
Lee Chapel
Lexington, Virginia
Photo by Jan Kronsell (2000)
