The United States celebrates several national holidays on the Monday nearest the date of the event the holiday commemorates. The purpose of this is to create three-day weekends, i.e., Saturday - Sunday - Monday. Three principal holidays - New Year's Day, Independence Day, and Christmas - are celebrated on the same date each year. Labor Day is celebrated the first Monday in September. Thanksgiving is celebrated the fourth Thursday in November. Many businesses and all government offices close in observance of national holidays. Retail stores tend to stay open on holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas excepted, but for shorter periods.

Not all the holidays listed below are celebrated by all Americans, but they are included here because they are observed by a significant sector of American society. Some are legal holidays on which government offices are closed and some are business holidays on which most businesses except gas stations, food stores, and drug stores are likely to be closed.

New Year's Day, January 1
The major celebration of the new year takes place the night before, December 31, New Year's Eve. It is common for groups of people to have parties. A champagne toast is traditional at the stroke of midnight to welcome the new year. It is also customary to blow horns or whistles and embrace friends and kiss lovers at midnight. New Year's Day is a legal and a business holiday.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
The birthday of U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. is a legal holiday celebrated on the third Monday in January.

Presidents' Day
Observed the third Monday in February, Presidents' Day is a legal holiday commemorating the birthdays of American presidents.

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