Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy will be celebrated this month on MLK Day. Here’s what to know

The annual day of remembrance for Martin Luther King Jr. is less than two weeks away, falling on Monday, Jan. 20, the same day as Inauguration Day this year.

Here’s what to know about Martin Luther King Jr. and why we celebrate his impact each year.

When is MLK Day?

The government shuts down the third Monday in January to honor Martin Luther King Jr., also known as MLK Day.

This year that day is Jan. 20.

When is Inauguration Day 2025? The same day as MLK Day

This year Jan. 20 will be both Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

According to USA TODAY, this coincidence has occurred only three times in the past, and they were all second-term inaugurations.

Who was Martin Luther King Jr.?

The Baptist minister first came to national prominence during 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.

The holiday honors King’s birthday, though it rarely falls on that actual day because of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which former President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law in 1968. King was born Jan. 15, 1929.

The campaign for a federal holiday in his honor began only four days after King was assassinated but was not passed until 15 years after his death.

On Nov. 2, 1983, President Ronald 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.

MLK Day: How did Martin Luther King Jr. Day become a federal holiday? What to know

When was Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated?

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 Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.

James Earl Ray, 40, later confessed to the crime and received a 99-year prison sentence.

King was 39 at the time of his death. If he were alive today, King would be turning 96 this month.

Are government offices closed on MLK day?

Yes; MLK Day is a federal holiday. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, federal offices will be closed, and federal workers will have a paid day off.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Martin Luther King Jr. Day is in January. Here’s why we celebrate his impact

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