• What Is Martin Luther King Jr. Day?

In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a national holiday celebrated on the third Monday of January every year. In 2024, this holiday falls on MLK Jr.'s actual birthday, January 15th.  

He is known to be the most important civil rights activist in American history. After he was assassinated in 1968, the King Holiday Bill was proposed to make MLK Jr's birthday a public holiday. However, it took 15 years for the bill to be passed, as President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law in 1983. 

Yet, not every state immediately recognized this holiday. In Business Insider's article, it says: 

"The first time Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed was in 1986, according to Time. But only 27 states and Washington, DC, observed it at the time. It took another 14 years for all the states to observe it, per Time. South Carolina became the last state, in 2000, to officially designate Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday. It was the same year the state took down the Confederate flag from its statehouse." 

Since MLK Jr's death, it took three decades for his birthday to become a national holiday across all 50 states of America. For more details on the bill's arduous passage, you can read this short Time's article.

You can also check out this video from CrashCourse to learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. and American history in the late 20th century. 

Martin Luther King, Jr: Crash Course Black American History #36

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