June 28, 1870: The Holiday Act of 1870

June 28, 1870: Congress passes the Holiday Act of 1870, creating the 1st federal holidays. It reads as follows, and I have not changed the spelling or punctuation from the original bill:

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That the following days to wit: The first day of January, commonly called New Year's Day, the fourth day of July, the twenty-fifth day of December, commonly called Christmas Day, and any day appointed or recommended by the President of the United States as a day of public fast or thanksgiving shall be holidays within the District of Columbia, and shall for all purposes of presenting for payment or acceptance for the maturity and protest, and of giving notice of the dishonor of bills of exchange, bank checks and promisory notes or other negotiable or commercial paper, be treated and considered as is the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and all notes, drafts, checks, or other commercial or negotiable paper falling due, or maturing on either of said holidays shall be deemed as having matured on the day previous.

Although at first applicable only to federal employees in Washington, D.C., Congress extended coverage in 1885 to all federal employees. In other words: For federal government workers, New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day were to be federal holidays, on which all federal offices, including post offices, would be closed.

This also applied to public schools. At first, most banks and stock markets closed as a courtesy. But with the establishment of the Federal Reserve System, it became mandatory.

George Washington's Birthday became a federal holiday in 1879. In 1888 and 1894, respectively, Decoration Day (later Memorial Day, May 30) and Labor Day (the 1st Monday in September) were created. Armistice Day was established in 1938 to honor the end of World War I, on November 11, 1918. In 1954, the scope of the holiday was expanded to honor all veterans, renamed Veterans Day.

In 1968, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act gave several holidays "floating" dates, so that they always fall on a Monday, establishing three-day weekends -- or, if the holiday falls on a Sunday, making the next day, Monday, the holiday. It also established Columbus Day, and combined the mandated Washington's Birthday and the optional Lincoln's Birthday into a single Presidents Day. In 1983, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established. And in 2021, Juneteenth National Independence Day was established.

Therefore, federal holidays in the United States are as follows:

* January 1, fixed date: New Year's Day.

* The 3rd Monday in January, 15 to 21: Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Dr. King's birthday was January 15.

* The 3rd Monday in February, 15 to 21: Presidents Day. This is followed on the calendar by March 17, St. Patrick's Day, on which federal offices, banks and schools remain open, unless it falls on a Saturday or a Sunday; Easter, which falls between March 22 to April 25, but always on a Sunday; and Mother's Day, the 2nd Sunday in May, 8 to 14. So, on Easter and Mother's Day, all of those places would be closed, anyway.

* The last Monday in May, 25 to 31: Memorial Day. This is followed on the calendar by June 14, Flag Day, on which federal offices, banks and schools remain open, unless it falls on a Saturday or a Sunday; and Father's Day, the 3rd Sunday in June, 15 to 21, so everything that would be closed on a federal holiday would be closed, anyway.

* June 19, fixed date: Juneteenth National Independence Day.

* July 4, fixed date: Independence Day.

* The 1st Monday in September, 1 to 7: Labor Day.

* The 2nd Monday in October, 8 to 14: Columbus Day. Given Christopher Columbus' role in the harm done to Native Americans, some places in America celebrate it, instead, as Indigenous Peoples' Day. Either way, this holiday is followed on the calendar by October 31, Halloween Day; and the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November, 2 to 8, Election Day, neither of which is a holiday on which on which federal offices, banks and schools remain open, unless, in the case of Halloween, it falls on a Saturday or a Sunday.

* November 11, fixed date: Veterans Day.

* The 4th Thursday in November 22 to 28: Thanksgiving Day. The next day, "Black Friday," is not a federal holiday, and banks and stock markets are open. But most public schools remain closed, resulting in the Thanksgiving holiday becoming a four-day weekend.

* December 25, fixed date: Christmas Day. December 24, Christmas Eve, is not a holiday. Nor is December 31, New Year's Eve. However, in each case, in anticipation of the next day's holiday, many public places close early, usually at 6:00 PM. And schools are usually closed for a Winter break.

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June 28, 1870 was a Tuesday. This was also the day that Doug Allison, the catcher for the Cincinnati Red Stockings, wore "buckskin mittens," to aid in catching the pitches of his teammate, Asa Brainard. who did it. This made him the 1st professional baseball player to wear any kind of glove. I have a separate entry for this event. It appears to have been the only professional baseball game played that day, and Cincinnati won, beating the Washington Nationals, 30-10, at the National Grounds in Washington. (Today, there are teams named the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, but they are not the same teams.)