Guess what time it is...

It's Monday, October 14th. It has come to the point in the year when we bash of Chris Columbus. This is what Columbus did...

1. He did not discover America, neither did the Vikings or Native Americans. America was discovered tens of thousands of years ago by hunter gatherers from the Asian continent. We don't know exactly where they came from but they did spawn the great civilizations that would eventually populate North and South America.

2. He did not start slavery in the Americas. Spain already had slaves from the African continent 500 years, at least, before Columbus was born. It was a natural extension of an already existing institution. The Dutch, British, French and Spanish all had a hand in the African-American slave trade. You can't blame one man for the sins of a whole continent.

3. Columbus did not discover a direct route to Asia. While his mission was a failure, he did find two new continents to explore, yes, and to exploit. It was generations of men who followed that led to the European expansion.

We should really leave the dead man alone. Columbus Day is just a holiday in October to give the banks and federal employees a day off. Deal with it!

What did Columbus do? Why, he sailed the ocean blue in 1492...