History · IN60SECONDS

Why is Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the third Monday in January?

Because Congress tied it to a Monday. King was born on January 15, 1929, but the 1983 law set the holiday on the third Monday, and it was first observed in 1986. All 50 states recognized it by 2000.

Quick Answer

Martin Luther King Jr. Day falls on the third Monday in January because Congress put it there. King was born on January 15, 1929, but when President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law on November 2, 1983, it was set for the third Monday, which always lands between January 15 and 21. A Monday date gives a three-day weekend, the pattern the Uniform Monday Holiday Act set in 1968 for Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day and Columbus Day. The first national observance was on January 20, 1986. The path there was long: a King holiday bill was introduced in Congress just four days after his assassination in April 1968, and the 1983 bill passed the House 338 to 90 and the Senate 78 to 22. It took until 2000 for all 50 states to recognize the day, when South Carolina became the last to make it a paid state holiday. In 2027, it’s Monday, January 18.

By the Numbers

15 yearsOf campaigning before the federal law passed in 1983

78–22The Senate vote on the King holiday bill in October 1983

2000Year all 50 states recognized the holiday

Key Facts

Why a Monday: Congress placed it on the third Monday in 1983, following the Monday-holiday pattern from 1968
Signed: November 2, 1983, by President Reagan
First observed: January 20, 1986
Next date: Monday, January 18, 2027

Timeline

April 1968
Representative John Conyers introduces a King holiday bill four days after King’s assassination.
June 1968
President Johnson signs the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moves several federal holidays to Mondays. It takes effect in 1971.
Oct. 19, 1983
The Senate passes the King holiday bill, 78 to 22. The House had passed it 338 to 90.
Nov. 2, 1983
President Reagan signs the bill, setting the holiday on the third Monday in January.
Jan. 20, 1986
The first national observance.
2000
South Carolina becomes the last state to make it a paid state holiday, so all 50 states now recognize the day.

Why a Monday

King was born on January 15, 1929, but the holiday isn’t tied to that date. Congress placed it on the third Monday in January, which falls between January 15 and 21 and always makes a three-day weekend. It was following a pattern set by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968, which moved Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day and Columbus Day to Mondays and took effect in 1971.

A 15-year campaign

Representative John Conyers of Michigan introduced the first King holiday bill in 1968, four days after the assassination. Supporters, including King’s widow Coretta Scott King and the singer Stevie Wonder, kept the push going for years, and a petition with about 6 million signatures was delivered to House Speaker Tip O’Neill. Opponents, among them Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, who led a filibuster, tried to block the bill before the Senate passed it 78 to 22.

From federal law to all 50 states

The holiday was first observed on January 20, 1986, but states adopted it at different speeds. Arizona approved a King holiday in a 1992 statewide vote. New Hampshire replaced its Civil Rights Day with Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1999, and South Carolina became the last state to make it a paid holiday for state employees, in 2000.

Myth vs. Fact

MythMLK Day is on King’s birthday.

FactKing was born on January 15, 1929, but the holiday is always the third Monday in January, so it falls between January 15 and 21.

MythThe holiday passed quickly after King’s death.

FactIt took 15 years of campaigning to pass the federal law in 1983, and the first observance was in 1986.

The Bottom Line

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is on the third Monday in January because Congress put it there in 1983, following the Monday-holiday pattern. It was first observed in 1986, and all 50 states recognized it by 2000.