Elementary school children know that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492,  but not when the day to celebrate this event was set aside, thus giving them a holiday from school.  A day to commemorate this event wasn’t made a U.S. national holiday until 1937 after intense lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal benefits organization.  In 1971, the celebratory day was set as the second Monday in October.  This day is also celebrated in Spain, the Bahamas, Costa Rica and other areas of the Americas under similar names and in Canada the U.S. holiday falls on the…

Item in the Mayfield Monitor, Wednesday, February 15, 1893: “Mittens Willett, well known young actress, died in New York of cancer.  Born in Columbus, Kentucky 30 years ago.  Appeared on the stage under name of Mary Anderson.  In 1884 she married Henry Aveling.  He was a suicide in 1891.  Left a five year old boy.  She was a niece of Col. Len G. Faxon of Paducah” (Graves Co. KY Newspaper Genealogical Abstracts, Volume 3, Mayfield Monitor). Her obituary in The New York Times, on February 10, 1893, states she made her debut on the stage with Mary Anderson’s company and…