It was first proposed four days after King's 1968 assassination outside a Memphis motel. It took 15 years until it became a federal holiday.

Though the holiday is young, this will only be the 25th year that all 50 states recognize it together. Here's what's open and closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

"While others were advocating for freedom by 'any means necessary,' including violence, Martin Luther King Jr. used the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance, such as protests, grassroots organizing, and civil disobedience to achieve seemingly impossible goals," according to The King Center.

Federal and state offices, banks, as well as postal and trash services will be closed or suspended Monday. Here’s what else you should know.

This year's MLK Day also falls on Inauguration Day for President-elect Donald Trump, marking only the second time in 28 years that these federal observances align. The last time the two dates overlapped was during President Bill Clinton's second inauguration in January 1997, which also included both inauguration events and MLK Day commemorations.

Joe Calhoun lived in a church attic, listening as Rev. King and other civil rights leaders planned the Memphis sanitation workers strike.

Our community leaders to whom we owe a deep debt of gratitude for working hard in the face of enormous obstacles to do the right thing and fight human injustice. Folks who have brought about

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Jan. 20, representing a time to remember the legacy of America’s famous Civil Rights leader and give back to the community.

In Harlem, New York, while signing copies of his first book, “Stride Toward Freedom,” Izola Ware Curry stabbed King with a letter opener between his heart and lung. He was taken to Harlem Hospital where his physician, Dr. Aubré D. Maynard, said, “If you had sneezed, your aorta would have been punctured and you would have drowned in your own blood.”

Martin Luther King Day is the celebration of the civil rights activist's birthday that falls in January. However, the federal holiday is not celebrated on Martin Luther King Jr.'s actual birthday, i.e.

Banks will be shutting down on January 20, Inauguration Day, because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.