Holidays in the United States
The United States has adopted legislation which moved the celebration of several holidays to the Monday nearest the date of the event the holiday commemorated. The purpose of this legislation was to create as many "three day weekends" as possible. Four principal holidays – New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas – were not subjects of the date-changing legislation. Other principal holidays, Labor Day and Memorial Day have traditionally been on Monday. Many businesses and all government offices close in observance of these holidays.
The following list indicates which are legal holidays (LH), when
government offices are closed, and which are business holidays (BH), when many businesses,
except some drugstores, service stations, and food stores are closed.
* The University is open on these dates
| New Year’s Day | January 1 | LH/BH | |
| Martin Luther King’s Birthday | Third Monday in January | LH in some states | |
| * | Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday | February 12 (or nearest Monday) | |
| * | St. Valentine’s Day | February 14 | |
| * | George Washington’s Birthday | February 22 (or nearest Monday) | |
| * | President’s Day | Third Monday in February | LH |
| * | Ash Wednesday | Date Varies | |
| * | St. Patrick’s Day | March 17 | |
| Easter Sunday | Date Varies sometime in March or April | ||
| Mother’s Day | The second Sunday in May | ||
| Memorial Day | May 30 (or nearest Monday) | LH/BH | |
| * | Father’s Day | The third Sunday in June | |
| Independence Day | July 4 | LH/BH | |
| Labor Day | The first Monday of September | LH/BH | |
| * | Rosh Hashanah - Jewish New Year | ||
| Yom Kippur – Jewish Day of Atonement | |||
| * | Columbus Day | October 12 (or nearest Monday) | LH |
| * | Halloween | October 31 | |
| Election Day | The first Tuesday in November | ||
| * | Veteran’s Day | November 11 | LH |
| Thanksgiving Day | The fourth Thursday in November | LH/BH | |
| * | Hanukkah | Late November or early December | |
| Christmas (many see this as the major U.S. holiday) | December 25 |
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