October 13th-So what is Columbus Day you ask? Just another day to skip work and goof off at home?Well,not according to most Italian Americans who view Columbus Day as an Italian-American culture heritage day.Columbus Day is thought of as the day that a man named Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492. It is a holiday that is celebrated on October 13, 2008 and in New York,the holiday is celebrated with a parade:"On October 13, Fifth Avenue will be transformed during the Columbus Day Parade, the world’s largest celebration of Italian-American culture.Over a dozen high school bands, as well as  professional groups from the United States and Italy, will make the march up Fifth Avenue and fill the canyons of midtown with joyous, heart-pounding music(source)." So if you are in New York city and around fifth Ave,check out the parade. Happy Columbus Day!

~AROUND THE ORB:A number of nations celebrate this encounter with annual holidays: among them are Discovery Day in The Bahamas and Colombia,a de la Hispanidad (Hispanic Day) in Spain,;a de la Raza (Day of the Race) in much of Latin America.