President Ronald Reagan signed legislation establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a U.S. federal holiday, to be observed on the third Monday of every January.
The bill passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support after years of advocacy, making Dr. King the only American without a presidential background to be honoured with a federal holiday. The first official observance took place in January 1986, and by 2000 every U.S. state had formally adopted it.
