Columbus Day is not the holiday it once was.
There was a time when Oct. 12 was marked by widespread celebration of the exploits of famed explorer Christopher Columbus, hailed as the discoverer of the New World. "In 1492," students would dutifully recite, "Columbus sailed the ocean blue."
Times have changed. Historians have since proven that other explorers -- notably Leif Ericson -- preceded Columbus to North America. And a growing number of critics have accused Columbus of abusing the natives he encountered in the Caribbean.
But Columbus' legacy lives on in today's more subdued holiday -- now the second Monday of October -- and in the geography of America.
Roughly 2.7 million Americans live in 54 counties, districts, cities, incorporated towns, boroughs, villages and census designated places named after Columbus. (The latter communities, CDPs, are unincorporated places that otherwise have the characteristics of cities.)
The explorer's biggest legacies in terms of population are Columbus, Ohio, and the District of Columbia, both with populations in excess of half a million. The full roster of Columbus' namesakes can be found in the following database.