MARTIN Luther King Day is celebrated every year on the third Monday of January.
Dr. King’s birthday is on January 15 so the holiday sometimes lands that day depending on the calendar. However, the latest date the holiday can be celebrated is January 21.
Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday honoring the life and work of the civil rights activist.
All federal employees are paid for working even if they receive the day off.
Many private employees will also receive paid time off or special holiday pay on the holiday.
This year, the holiday will be celebrated on Monday, January 18, 2021.
All non-essential federal government offices are closed.
The US Postal Service, public schools, and banks will be closed in observance of the holiday.
However, both FedEx and UPS will be open and delivering packages as usual.
All operations will resume as normal on the following day.
Martin Luther King Day became a federal holiday in 1983 when President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law.
Yet, the holiday was first formally celebrated in 1986.
At first, some states resisted observing the holiday, but in the year 2000 all 50 states decided to honor the holiday.
The bill also established the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission to oversee observance of the holiday.
Dr. King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, was made a member of this commission for life by President George H. W. Bush in May 1989.
James Earl Ray was convicted of assassinating King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968.
In 1969, Ray was convicted after entering a guilty plea, thus forgoing a jury trial and the possibility of a death sentence.
He was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
He served 29 years of his sentence until he died on April 23, 1998, at the age of 70.
