Henry Steel Olcott was born on the 2nd of August 1832 in USA. He came to Sri Lanka in 1880 to witness the Buddhist Christian debate. He understood the greatness of Buddhism and started writing for Buddhist revival.  He founded the Buddhist Schools in Sri Lanka.  Colomb Ananda College, Kandy Dharmaraja College  and Ollcot College in Gall are some of them. He was able to get to Poya day declared  a holiday.