Every year, on the second Monday of October, the U.S. celebrates Columbus Day, which commemorates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. Yet he sailed for the Spanish, landed in the Caribbean, and was kind of a jerk. So, uh, why is this a U.S. holiday again?
Source: The Real History of Columbus Day
Consider this data as well:
Bright, shiny objects! 
What do you think?