Last Monday, January 17, we celebrate a national holiday in honor of the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, a tireless fighter for the civil rights of African Americans who was assassinated in 1968. ... The date is commemorated on the third Monday of January, a date close to January 15, the date of his birth in 1929. Designed to honor Martin Luther King Jr., MLK Day became a federal holiday in 1983. It falls on the third Monday of every January. (New Hampshire was the last state to adopt it as a paid state holiday in 1999, replacing the state's optional Civil Rights Day.)2
