Calendar for January 19th, 2009

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday (observed)

Since 1986, the third Monday in January has been a federal holiday in observance of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and civil rights leader dedicated to nonviolence. It was the first new federal holiday created since 1948, when Memorial Day became a national holiday, and only the third in this century (the other was Armistice, or Veterans, Day). Dr. King is the only American besides George Washington to have his birthday designated a national holiday. This is a day to honor King's principles, perhaps best exemplified by his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'" For more about this leader, go to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site of the National Park Service.