Equatorial Guinea Independence Day
This day commemorates when Equatorial Guinea marked independence from Spain in 1968. The Portuguese first colonised one of the islands Bioko in 1471, but ceded its control to Spain in 1778 under the Treaty of El Pardo. In 1900 it became a colony called Spanish Guinea, it was split into two provinces in 1959, and then both were joined in 1963 to become Equatorial Guinea. Under pressure from the United Nations, Spain announced that it would grant independence in 1968.
Fiesta Nacional de Espana
This day commemorates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ first arrival in the Americas. This day is celebrated widely throughout the Americas , known as Columbus Day in the US (see below) and as Dia de la Raza in various Hispanic American countries. Celebration of the anniversary in Spain dates to 1935, when the first festival was held in Madrid. The day was known as Dia de la Hispanidad (Day of Hisapnicity) to mark Spain’s connection to the international Hispanic community. On 27th November 1981 a royal decree established it as a national holiday. However on 7th October 1987 the name was changed to Fiesta Nacional. The name change had the effect of removing all reference to Spain’s historical colonialism, and even its ties to Latin America. Since 2000, it is celebrated with a military parade usually held in Madrid with the Spanish King, head of state and the Prime Minister of Spain in attendance.
Columbus Day
This is a national holiday in the United States, officially celebrating the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. It would have been 21st October in the Julian Calendar, but is 12th October in the Gregorian calendar. Columbus was an Italian explorer on behalf of Spain who was sent across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a faster route to the Far East, only to land at the New World after three months. Columbus and his crew’s arrival to the New World initiated the Columbian Exchange which introduced the transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations and technology between the New and Old World. Celebration of this day is recorded as early as 1792, when the Tammany Society in New York City and the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston celebrated the 300th anniversary of the day. For the 400th anniversary in 1892, a lynching in New Orleans where a mob had murdered 11 italian immigrants, President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as an one-time national celebration. Many Italian-Americans observe the day as a celebration of their heritage, and their first celebration was in 1866. The day was lobbied to be a legal holiday, and it was made a statutory holiday in 1907, and then a federal holiday in 1968. Since 1971 the holiday has been marked on the second Monday in October. Annual observances vary in different parts of the countries, from large-scale parades in San Francisco to non-observance at all.
Holidays & Special Events 