What Martin Luther King Jr Day is

A US federal holiday on the third Monday in January, close to Kingu2019s birthday on 15 January. Signed into law in 1983 and first observed in 1986, it was not marked in all fifty states until 2000.

It is one of the few US federal holidays framed as a day of service rather than commemoration alone, following a 1994 act encouraging volunteering.

Why the date changes but the weekday does not

The countdown at the top of this page is live, and the date beneath it is the next occurrence. The date is set by a weekday rule rather than a fixed number, so it lands on a different date each year within a known window.

The date follows a published weekday rule, so it can be computed years ahead. Where a country sets the holiday in law, the official government calendar is the authority — and legislatures do occasionally move a public holiday for a one-off reason.

What is coming up next

Once this date passes, the countdown moves on according to the recurrence rule described above. Calculated lunar dates remain estimates until the relevant calendar or local authority confirms them. See the full list of upcoming events, or use the countdown timer for a duration of your own.