How do they decide which holidays are going to be celebrated on the same date every year (i.e. Veteran’s Day) and which will be celebrated on the same day every year (i.e. MLK day on the third Monday in January)?
Any rhyme or reason?
Some, by definition, are fixed on a certain date of the year (July 4, Christmas, New Years).
Others, by definition, are fixed on a particular day of the week (Labor Day, Thanksgiving).
Memorial Day was supposed to be May 31, but it seems to have become universal custom to observe it on the last Monday in May in order to have a three day weekend.
The same applies to President’s Day and MLKJ’s birthday. Originally President’s Day was Lincoln’s BD and Washington’s BD. Not all jurisdictions gave off both days and not all jurisdictions observed them on the same day (i.e. some observed them on the “proper” days while others moved them to make a TDW). They were eventually combined to the one holiday and formally established as the third Monday in February.
When they set up MLKJ’s BD as a holiday, they apparently set it up at the outset to observe it on the third Monday in January (whether or not it actually falls out on MLKJ’s BD).
Zev Steinhardt (whose birthday, Feb 30, is never given off).