U.S. MISSION CLOSED FOR COLUMBUS DAY

October 5, 2007

The U.S. Mission to Nepal will be closed on Monday, October 8, on the occasion of Columbus Day, a national holiday in the United States.  The Chancery, USAID, and the Consular and Public Affairs Sections are among the components of the Mission and are now located at the new Embassy compound in Maharajgunj.

The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day in the United States took place on October 12, 1792.  It commemorated the 300th anniversary of Columbus’s landing in the New World.  In 1892 President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation urging Americans to mark the day.  Since 1971 Columbus Day, designated as the second Monday in October, has been celebrated as a federal holiday.  In many locations across the country, Americans parade in commemoration of the day.