the fourth of july became a federal holiday in 1938.
when did the fourth of july become a federal holiday?
in 1938
george washington's birthday became a federal holiday in 1880. in 1888 and 1894, respectively, decoration day (now memorial day) and labor day were created. in 1938, armistice day (now veterans day) was created to mark the end of world war i. the scope and the name of the holiday was expanded in 1954 to honor americans who fought in world war ii and the korean war.









































in 1968, the monday holiday act of 1968 shifted several holidays to always fall on a monday and saw the establishment of columbus day.
federal holidays in the united states
the federal holiday honoring washington was originally implemented by an act of congress in 1879 for government offices in washington () and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices (). as the first federal holiday to honor an american president, the holiday was celebrated on washington's birthday under the gregorian calendar, february 22. on january 1, 1971, the federal holiday was shifted to the third monday in february by the uniform monday holiday act. this places it between february 15 and 21, which makes "washington's birthday" something of a misnomer, since it never occurs on washington's actual birthday, february 22. (a rough analog of this phenomenon can be seen in commonwealth realms, where the reigning monarch's official birthday is celebrated without regard to their actual date of birth.)
washington's birthday