Public holidays in the United States of America

Non-floating holidays

Non-statutory holidays are written in gray.

Moving Holidays in the United States of America

Shifting holidays to Mondays

A special feature goes back to President Richard Nixon in 1971, who, during his term in office, moved most national holidays to the nearest Monday. Thus, a public holiday is also a day off work for large parts of the population. This does not, of course, include anniversaries such as Independence Day, New Year's Day or Christmas, which by their nature cannot be celebrated on other days. Despite the dates set by the federal government, the individual U.S. states have wide-ranging freedom in scheduling. Each state can arbitrarily move a holiday for its territory or even skip it altogether. For example, President's Day is not celebrated in 11 states. Columbus Day is also celebrated in only 34 states. In addition, there are countless dates for regional holidays.

Independence Day

Probably the best known U.S. holiday from numerous movies is Independence Day on July 4. This day dates back to 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed. In it, the name "United States of America" was also recorded for the first time, to which the previous 13 British colonies united. The USA did not receive its legal existence until about 12 years later with the adoption of the constitution. Nevertheless, 1776 is considered the year of its founding. Today, the day is celebrated throughout the country with picnics, parades and fireworks. In many places, things are much more patriotic than in Europe, for example. Countless U.S. flags bathe entire streets in a sea of white, red and blue.

Thanksgiving

While in most parts of the world the Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated almost exclusively in rural areas, in the U.S., there is a real hustle and bustle on the fourth Thursday in November. Originally proclaimed by George Washington in 1789, the holiday was still celebrated on October 3 until 1862. It was not until Abraham Lincoln that Thanksgiving Day was moved to the day at the end of November. The reason for this move was purely economic: the additional bridging day on the following Friday and the extended weekend at the beginning of the Christmas season were intended to boost sales. As a result, the day known today as Black Friday came into being, on which retailers post many discounts.