Banks will be closed today--- Monday, October 13---, as well as post offices. There will be no mail service, but private carriers like UPS and FedEx will operate as normal.
Elementary and secondary schools in Alabama will be closed on Monday in recognition of the holiday, though it does vary by school district. Universities and colleges may still hold classes, as they often follow different academic calendars.
(From an NPR story:)
Christopher Columbus was born in Italy in 1451 and sailed to what he thought would be Asia in 1492, with support from the Spanish monarchy. He instead arrived in what is now the Bahamas. He would make three more voyages to South America, Central America and the Caribbean before his death, but never made it to what is now the U.S., according to Britannica.
President Benjamin Harrison first commemorated Columbus Day in 1892, a year after anti-Italian rhetoric culminated in the murder of 11 Italian immigrants in New Orleans by a lynch mob. The attack put a strain on the relationship between Italy and the U.S., and the holiday was an olive branch. President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed it a federal holiday in 1934.
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