May is Asian Pacific Heritage Month. APA Heritage Month was first established in 1977 when Representatives Frank Horton and Norman Mineta and Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced resolutions asking the President to declare the first ten days of May (the month when the first Japanese immigrants arrived in the U.S. in 1843) as Asian/Pacific Heritage Week. In 1978 President Carter made it an annual event and in 1990, President George H.W. Bush proclaimed the entire month of May to be Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Source:
http://www.asian-nation.org/heritage.shtml
Below are links to sites where you can find out additional information on Asian-Pacific Heritage Month, and about the contributions of Asian and Pacific Islander contributions to history.
http://www.infoplease.com/asian-pacific-american-heritage-month/
http://asianpacificheritage.gov/
http://asianpacificheritage.gov/about.html
