It became Public Law 100-104 when
President Reagan signed it on August 18, 1987. The US celebrates
German-American Day on Oct. 6. It commemorates the date in 1683 when
13 German families from Krefeld, near the Rhine landed in
Philadelphia. These families subsequently founded Germantown,
Pennsylvania, the first German settlement in the original thirteen
American colonies. About 1 in 4 Americans claim part or full German
heritage.
Day of German Unity (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) is observed
on October 3, when the official German holiday commemorates
Germany's reunification in 1990, when East and West Germany once
again became one country known as the Federal Republic of Germany
die Bundesrepublik Deutschland).
German Pioneers Day is celebrated in Ontario, Canada on the
day after Canadian Thanksgiving, second Monday in October. A law
passed by the Ontario provincial Legislative Assembly in 2000
proclaimed the annual celebration of the German contributions to
Canada on the day after Canadian Thanksgiving.