Discovery Day commemorates the discovery of the Sister Islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman by Christopher Columbus in 1503. The public holiday is celebrated on the third Monday in May. Colombia celebrates October 12 as "Discovery Day", coinciding with the Columbus Day celebrations of many other countries in the New World. March 6 marks the day in 1521 that Magellan's expedition dropped anchor in Umatac Bay. December 5, the date in 1492 when Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Hispaniola in what is now Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti, is called Discovery Day. Today the island is shared by two countries: Haiti and
Emancipation Day be moved to the 18th if Emancipation Day falls on the weekend and to the 17th if Emancipation Day falls on a Monday. Each year, activities will be held during the public holiday including the traditional Emancipation Day parade celebrating the freedom of enslaved persons in the District of Columbia. The Emancipation Day celebration was held yearly from 1866 to 1901. In Columbus, Mississippi, Emancipation Day is celebrated on May 8, known locally as "Eight o' May". As in other southern states, the local celebration commemorates the date in 1865 when African Americans in eastern Mississippi learned of their freedom.