Columbus Day and Canadian Thanksgiving

Canada is one of the few countries here in the western hemisphere that does not celebrate any version of Columbus Day. Canadians are marking a holiday on 10th October, but it's a different one. Canadian Thanksgiving.

Columbus Day, which falls on the second Monday of every October in the United States, is America's most awkward federal holiday. However, overlooking all of the controversies, Columbus Day remains a federal holiday - although it seems that people's opinions on recognizing it will always be fiercely divided.

It's the day we celebrate America's discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1492, which as many Americans will tell you, never happened, as he never actually reached North America, and America had been discovered thousands of years earlier by humans who migrated from northeast Asia, (and also around 1000 AD by Leif Erikson). 

So I figured, lets have a very happy Canadian Thanksgiving instead!

Here's some reasoning on why Canadian Thanksgiving might be a better celebration than the dark legacy of Columbus Day:-

There's foooooood, football, and friends and family! 

The food is basically the same as American Thanksgiving, a delicious bounty of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, pie, and cake. Whereas there's no special food on Columbus Day, although I guess if you wanted you could recreate the squalid meals on Columbus' ship by eating hardtack bread and brine-preserved sardines?

Also, Canadian Thanksgiving officially commemorates the 1578 voyage of English explorer Martin Frobisher, whose ship barely survived the journey to what is today Canada. But he did get there! The crew gave thanks for surviving the trip, which became Thanksgiving. 

And finally, I've put together a page of old time radio shows which are either based in Canada, are about Canada, or originated in Canada, such as the Adventures of Danny Marsdon, a reporter for the Mid City Sentinel newspaper.

I've also put together a page of Columbus Day shows :-)

And Indigenous Peoples Day shows to cover all bases.

I hope that you enjoy listening to these shows on RUSC, and whether or not you choose to celebrate Columbus Day, that you have a great time over the long weekend.

Happy listening my friends,