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Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year. King's birthday is January The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The earliest Monday for this holiday is January 15 and the latest is January King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movementwhich protested racial discrimination in federal and state law.

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The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law inand it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays.

It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in The idea Kinh Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday was promoted by labor unions in contract negotiations.

Senator Edward Brooke a Republican from Massachusetts introduced a bill in Congress to make King's birthday a national holiday. The bill first came to a vote in the U. House of Representatives in However, it fell five votes short of the number needed for passage.

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Soon after, the King Center turned to support from the corporate community and the general public. The success of this strategy was cemented when musician Stevie Wonder released the single " Happy Birthday " to popularize the campaign in and hosted the Rally for Peace Press Conference in Six million signatures were collected for a petition to Congress to pass the law, termed by a article in The Nation as "the largest petition in favor of an issue in U. Senators Jesse Helms and John Porter East both North Carolina Republicans led the opposition to the holiday Martin Luther King Jr and the Civil questioned whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. Helms criticized King's opposition to the Vietnam War and accused him of espousing "action-oriented Marxism ".

Democratic New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan declared the document a "packet of filth", threw it on the Senate floor and stomped on it. President Ronald Reagan originally opposed the holiday, citing cost concerns. When Martin Luther King Jr and the Civil to comment on Helms' accusations that King was a communist, the president said "We'll know Kinng thirty-five years, won't we? The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, The bill also established the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission to oversee observance of the holiday, and Coretta Scott KingKing's wife, was made a member of this commission for life by President George H. Bush in May Although the federal holiday honoring King was signed into law in Influence of Consumer Behavior and took effect three years later, not every U.

InArizona Governor Bruce Babbitta Democrat, created a paid state MLK holiday in Arizona by executive order just Jt he left office, but inhis Republican successor Evan Mechamciting an attorney general's opinion that Babbitt's order was illegal, reversed Ths decision days after taking office. South Carolina was the last state to recognize the day as a paid holiday for all state employees. Before the bill, employees could choose between celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.

Day or one of three Confederate holidays.

While all states now observe the holiday, some did not name the day after King. Several additional states have chosen to combine commemorations of King's birthday with other observances:. The observance is most popular among nonprofit organizations and least popular among factories and manufacturers. Additionally, many schools and places of higher education are closed for classes; others remain open but may hold seminars or celebrations Knig King's message.

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The observance of MLK Day has led to some colleges and universities extending their Christmas break to include the day as part of the break. Some employers use MLK Day as a floating or movable holiday.

The federal legislation challenges Americans to transform the King Holiday into a day of citizen action volunteer service in honor of King.]