Vicious bigotry, reluctant acceptance: How Italians became "White"

Interesting, I didn't know that was the origin of Columbus Day. It seems odd why the U.S. would honor Columbus so much given how little he has to do with its history.

I got curious why the U.S.'s capital was named "District of Columbia", and found this on wikipedia,

"The federal district was named Columbia (a feminine form of "Columbus"), which was a poetic name for the United States commonly in use at that time.[25][26] Congress held its first session in Washington on November 17, 1800.[27][28]."

Another quote from an article linked on Wikipedia,

"Shortly after the owners of the land selected for the capital transferred their property to the government, President Washington began to refer to the newly-created town as "the Federal City." At a meeting on September 9, 1791, the commissioners agreed that the "Federal district shall be called the 'Territory of Columbia' and the Federal City the 'City of Washington.'" (The term "district" was more popular than "territory" and officially replaced it when the capital was incorporated in 1871.) The name "Washington" was chosen by the commissioners to honor the President. "Columbia," a feminine form of "Columbus," was popularized as a name for America in patriotic poetry and song after the Revolutionary War. The term idealized America's qualities as a land of liberty."

I guess it makes sense when you consider that King's College was renamed Columbia University. Apparently the Statue of Liberty is a personification of this Columbia, and the song "Hail Columbia" is the official song of the vice presidency.