On Monday, January 21 we will be out of school for the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This holiday is observed each year on the third Monday in January. This was chosen because it is around the time of his birthday.

This national holiday was first presented by U.S. Representative John Conyers and U.S. Senator Edward Brooke. The first bill came to a vote in the U.S. Representatives in 1979. It fell 5 votes short of the number needed to be passed. But on November 2, 1983, Ronald Reagan signed a bill proposed by Katie Hall of Indiana to create a federal law  honoring King. The holiday was first observed on January 20, 1986.