PUBLIC HOLIDAYS IN THE U.S.

Holidays and Holy Days are days set aside for public, religious or secular (non-religious) observances. The term holy day refers only to the religious aspect of the celebration. Although most nations include holy days in their holiday calendar, in countries where religion is practiced privately only secular holidays are reserved for national celebrations.

Holiday is any day on which people lay aside their ordinary duties and cares. The word comes from the Anglo-Saxon halig daeg, or holy day. At first, holidays honored some sacred event or holy person.

The United States is a nation of many religious and ethnic groups. Many of these have feast days, holy days or special customs related to their religion or to their nation of origin.

People of the Jewish faith, i.e., observe all of their traditional holy days, with employers showing consideration by allowing them to take days off so they can observe their traditions. The same is true for Moslems.

In the US, Sunday is the only holiday recognized by common law. Congress has at different times set aside special holidays, such as the Day of Rejoicing after the end of the Civil War, or V-E and V-J days to celebrate the end of fighting in World War II.

But in strict sense there are no national holidays in the US. The President and Congress can legally designate holidays only to be observed in the District of Columbia and by federal government employees throughout the country. In practice, however, most states observe these federal (national) "legal or public" holidays.

Each of the 50 states has the authority to specify the holidays and their dates it will observe. The governor of the state proclaims the holiday for the state. Some holidays are specific only to an individual state. Cities and towns can decide not to celebrate a federal or state holiday at all, or to celebrate other "legal" holidays specific to their own region.

Ten holidays per year are proclaimed by the federal government:

If a holiday falls on a Sunday or a Saturday, it is usually observed on the following Monday or on the preceding Friday.

Federal government offices, including the post offices, are always closed on all federal holidays. Banks, businesses and schools usually close on major federal holidays like Independence Day and Christmas Day but may not always be closed, i.e., on Presidents' Day or Veterans' Day.

Schools and organizations often observe days known as traditional holidays, although schools and businesses do not close then.