“Exploration Day” Instead of “Columbus Day”?

On previous Columbus Days we've wondered whether or not the date ought to be renamed for a different Italian explorer with a less checkered past than Christopher Columbus. But what about renaming the day to honor the accomplishments of all explorers in the U.S.?

Two new petitions have been launched (through Change.org and The White House) seeking to rededicate Columbus Day as Exploration Day. 

"Rededicating Columbus Day as Exploration Day will allow those who wish to commemorate his accomplishments to continue doing so," said Karl Frank, one of the men behind the Exploration Day plan, to Discovery News. "But for those who find Columbus's role in history disquieting, it will enable them to celebrate the day in a very different way. Exploration Day covers the depth and breadth of America’s rich history of exploration, research and discovery. Thus, Exploration Day will be something that unites rather than divides."

Frank and his cohorts, Tom Diehl and Dr. Rod Wright, claimed that they were inspired by the efforts of recently deceased astronaut Neil Armstrong.
 
“Inspired by the likes of Armstrong’s generation, we are finished wondering and are ready to make it happen by rekindling that fire of exploratory spirit intrinsic in all of humanity,” noted Frank. “Like the exploratory fire found in women like Sacajawea, Hedy Lamar, Amelia Earhart, and men like Lewis and Clark, John Fremont, Matthew Henson, Charles Lindbergh, and the more contemporary Elon Musk”.