Oct 10, 2011 is a
Columbus day holiday in the US in memory of the anniversary of Christopher Columbus arrival into the Americas.
While Columbus legacy is controversial, I think it is an appropriate day to celebrate and reflect upon DISCOVERY, an essential part of our field (whether it is called predictive analytics, data science, data mining or knowledge discovery).
Columbus spent many years patiently preparing and lobbying for his voyage, and data preparation is likewise a major part of any discovery.
Columbus was not the first person in the Americas, and not even the first European (Vikings have been here before), but he had a successful plan for "deploying" his discovery.
Columbus was wrong about what he discovered - he thought that he discovered a way to India. This is an important lesson about questioning your assumptions, even the most basic ones, and viewing discoveries with fresh eyes !
Thus Columbus day is an appropriate holiday for discoverers in cyberspace.