The life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will once again be celebrated and honored on Monday.
The Civil Rights icon, whose work to end segregation and racism through nonviolence earned him theNobel Peace Prize in 1964, is the only non-president with afederal holidaynamed in his honor. Every year on MLK Day, the federal government closes and citizens across the U.S. take part in a day of service.
Here's everything to know about MLK Day, including how it became a federal holiday.
When is Martin Luther King Jr. Day?
The federal government shuts down on the third Monday ofevery Januaryto honor Rev.Martin Luther King Jr.In 2026, it falls on Monday, Jan. 19.
The holiday in his honor is timed to honor King's birthday on Jan. 15, 1929. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act, signed into law in 1968 by former President Lyndon B. Johnson, set several federal holidays to fall on Mondays, including MLK Day, to avoid midweek disruptions and closures.
Who was Martin Luther King Jr.?
The Baptist ministerfirst came to national prominenceduring the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama. King would go on to become one of the most prominent figures in the Civil Rights Movement, founding the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 and leading the 1963 March on Washington.
King is famed for advocating civil disobedience and nonviolent methods to push back against racism and segregation. In 1963, King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the National Mall during the March on Washington.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968,according to the Stanford Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute. He was standing on a second-floor balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
James Earl Ray confessed to shooting King and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. King's killing sent shockwaves through America and is still regarded as a landmark event in U.S. history.
King, who was 39 at the time of his death, would be turning 97 this month.
How did Martin Luther King Jr. Day become a holiday?
The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began four days after he wasassassinated. Despite the national fervor inspired by the death of the leader who was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, legislation to honor him languished for years,according to the National Constitution Center.
Itwasn't until 15 yearsafter King's death that civil rights activistsfinally succeeded in makingMartin Luther King Jr. Day a nationally observed holiday.
On Nov. 2, 1983, Reagan signed a bill making the third Monday in January a federal holiday in observance of King's legacy. The holiday was first observed three years later on Jan. 20, 1986.
What will be closed on MLK Day?
MLK is a federal holiday, meaning some governmental entities and businesses will be closed in observance.
Government offices will be closed on Monday, Jan. 19, as will U.S. Postal Service post offices. Mail will not be delivered that day.
The stock market and banks, including branches of Capital One, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC, Chase, Truist and Citibank, among others, will also be closed.
Retailers, grocery stores and pharmacies may be closed or have modified hours for the holiday. Check your nearest location for holiday hour information before stepping out to shop on Jan. 19.
Trump and MLK Day
PresidentDonald Trumpand his administration have made some controversial comments and moves surrounding MLK Day and civil rights, despite being inaugurated on the holiday for his second term in 2025 and invoking the reverend leader in his speech.
Recently,Trump said the 1964 Civil Rights Act,which sought to end race-based discrimination and segregation and provide Black Americans withequal access to education and employment,resulted in white people being "very badly treated." Thecomments were rebukedby King's daughter, Bernice King, who called them a "false narrative that distorts history and obscures reality."
Trump has also bemoaned how many paidholidays there are in the United States, first onMay 5, when proclaiming celebratory, but working, holidays to honor World War I and World War II, andagain on Juneteenth,which commemorates theevents of June 19, 1865,when the last Black people enslaved by the Confederacy were ordered free.
In December, theNational Park Service eliminated Martin Luther King Jr. Day,along with the Juneteenth federal holiday, from its calendar of free admission days for sites that charge entrance fees, replacing them with Trump's Birthday/Flag Day.
Even so, any changes to federal holidays need to pass through Congress. Presidents can issue executive orders, effective for a year, that change the way federal holidays are administered, but cannot change or remove a federal holiday permanently.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Is MLK Day 2026 a federal holiday? Meaning, history, origins, more
