Guam History and Chamorro Heritage Day

Guam History and Chamorro Heritage Day, also known as Guam Discovery Day, is a public holiday in Guam, and it is observed on the first Monday of March each year. The holiday commemorates the anniversary of when the Europeans first discovered the island in 1521.

Guam is an unincorporated organized territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Indigenous people inhabited the island for thousands of years before the Europeans arrived in 1521.

Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, became the admiral of the Spanish Fleet in 1815. He headed the five-ships fleet and left Spain in 1519 sailing across the Atlantic toward South America to open a maritime trade route.

On March 6, 1521, Magellan arrived at the island of Guam and reached the Philippine islands shortly after. However, he was killed on April 27, 1521, when Magellan and his crew attempted to subdue the Mactan natives by force. Guam became a Spanish colony in 1565 and was ceded to the United States in 1898 following Spain's defeat in the Spanish-American War.

The following is the list of Guam History and Chamorro Heritage Day from 2022 to 2026.

Please check more public holidays in Guam: