Is memorial day always on monday?
Actually, it wasn’t "always." It used to be May 30th. In 1971, the "Uniform Monday Holiday Act" went into effect, which moved some holidays (Washington’s Birthday, which is now Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Columbus Day and Veterans Day) to the closest Monday to their original date, so people would have 3-day weekends. Veterans Day was moved back to its original date of November 11th because that was a significant date: WWI ended at 11:00 on 11/11, 1918. When Martin Luther King Day became a national holiday, it, too, was included and is celebrated on a Monday.
I definitely recall that at first, New York State, where I live, kept Memorial Day as May 30th. This created a weird situation where state colleges, schools and other state offices were closed on May 30th while almost everyone else was closed on that Monday. They eventually moved the holiday to Monday.
Memorial Day was originally known as "Decoration Day" and started when people would decorate the graves of those killed in the Civil War.
