Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Culture of origin: National · National holiday

Holiday sources: United States (federal)

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, officially the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., honours the chief spokesman of nonviolent protest in the civil rights movement, born on January 15, 1929. The campaign for the holiday began after his assassination in 1968 and gathered six million signatures; President Reagan signed it into law in 1983. It was first observed on January 20, 1986, and by 2000 every state observed it.