Jan 15, 2024
Dr. King Holiday: Third Mon in January.
Official name
Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Also called
MLK Day, King Day, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
“First time:
1986; 38 years ago
King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later on January 20, 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.”
“King was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta. But the King holiday is marked every year on the third Monday in January. The King Center in Atlanta has a detailed chronology of how the efforts, starting shortly after King’s death in 1968, paid off in the long run.”
Media News Global Voices 