Uniform Monday Holiday Act
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The Uniform Monday Holiday Act (public law no. 90-363) is a United States law that amended the federal holiday provisions of the United States Code to establish the observance of certain holidays on Mondays. The Act was signed into law on June 28, 1968 and took effect on January 1, 1971.[1]
The Act moved Memorial Day, Washington's Birthday, and Veterans Day from fixed dates to designated Mondays and created a new holiday, Columbus Day, which also falls on a Monday.[2] The law was designed to give federal employees more three-day weekends.[2] Veterans Day was eventually removed from this list of Monday holidays when it was moved back to its traditional date of November 11.
Contrary to popular perception, the Act did not establish "Presidents' Day," nor did it combine the observance of Lincoln's birthday with Washington's. In fact, the Act removed observance of Lincoln's birthday from the list of federal holidays, but it retained observance of Washington's birthday, albeit on the third Monday in February instead of on February 22, which is Washington's actual birthday.[2]
[edit] External links
- Presidents' Day: Long-Standing Misnomer, Christian Science Monitor, 1998
- Federal holiday provisions of the United States Code, 5 U.S.C. 6103
- Text of the Act
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/winter/images/uniform-monday-holiday-law.jpg
- ^ a b c http://www.snopes.com/holidays/presidents/presidents.asp
