By Bob Benenson

Columbus Day became a federal holiday under which president?

a) George Washington

b) Benjamin Harrison

c) Franklin D. Roosevelt

d) Richard M. Nixon

Answer: c) Congress passed and Roosevelt signed a measure in 1934 that established a federal holiday on Oct. 12 to mark the date in 1492 that, according to historians, was when Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, commissioned by the king and queen of Spain, reached land in the Western Hemisphere.

There had been local commemorations of the event from the earliest days of the nation’s history, including on the 300th anniversary in 1792, when Washington was president, and the 400th anniversary in 1892, when Harrison was in office.

The current practice of setting the Columbus Day holiday for the second Monday in October, regardless of whether it coincides with Oct. 12, began in 1971, when Nixon was president.