The U.S.A.
Perhaps you’ve heard of it. It’s that big country in the Western Hemisphere—no, the one below Canada—that often makes the news for, well, one thing or another.
Americans love their holidays. Why? Because they don’t get enough vacation days. While Germans and Australians get an astounding 370 days of vacation each year (we’ve researched this painstakingly), Americans get bupkis—the standard two weeks plus a personal day if their boss is nice.
But Americans get extra holidays thrown in there once a month or so to make up for it.
National Holidays:
New Year’s Day (January 1)
Martin Luther King Day (3rd Monday in January)
George Washington’s Birthday (3rd Monday in February) (aka Presidents’ Day)
Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
Independence Day (July 4)
Labor Day (1st Monday in September)
Columbus Day (2nd Monday in October)
Veterans’ Day (November 11)
Thanksgiving (4th Thursday in November)
Christmas (December 25 )
Easter is the second most celebrated religious holiday (after Christmas), but it’s not a federal holiday.
Other Popular Holidays:
Groundhog Day (February 2)
Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12)
Valentine’s Day (February 14)
St. Patrick’s Day (March 17)
April Fool’s Day (April 1)
Cinco de Mayo (May 5)
Mother’s Day (2nd Sunday in May)
Father’s Day (3rd Sunday in June)
Halloween (October 31)
Christmas Eve (December 24)
Kwanzaa (December 26-Jan 1)
New Year’s Eve (December 31
Holidays by proclamation:
Religious Freedom Day (January 16)
Inauguration Day (January 20 – or 21 – every 4th year)
National Day of Mourning (April 28)
Armed Forces Day (3rd Saturday in May)
National Missing Children’s Day (May 25)
Flag Day (June 14)
Parents’ Day (4th Sunday in July)
Citizenship Day & Constitution Day (September 17)
Patriot Day (September 11)
Election Day (1st Tuesday in November, every 4th year)
Regional holidays:
Arbor Day (varies by state) (California, March 7)
Mardi Gras (New Orleans, day before Ash Wednesday)
Pioneer Day (Utah, June 24)
Casimir Pulaski Day (Illinois, 1st Monday in March)
King Kamehameha Day (June 11)
Cesar Chavez Day (California) (March 31)
John Hancock/Handwriting Day (Massachusetts, January 23)
St. Urho’s Day (Wisconsin, March 16)
Alamo Day/Texas Week (Texas)
Hostos Day (Puerto Rico)
Alaska Day (Alaska, October 18)
Native American Day (4th Friday in September)
Lesser known holidays:
Birthday of the King (Elvis’s Birthay, January 8th)
Four Chaplains Day (February 3)
Tweed Day (April 3)
Tax Day (April 15, not a holiday, but still…)
Father Damien Day (April 15)
Ellis Island Family History Day (April 17)
Martin Z. Mollusk Day (1st Thursday in May)
Fly a Kite Day (June 15)
Stonewall (June 28)
Women’s Equality Day (August 26)
Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19)
Native American Day (4th Friday in September)
Leif Erikson Day (October 9)
Mischief Night (October 30)
Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving)
Rosa Parks Day (December 1)
Festivus (December 23)
