Holidays

Public holidays: history, law and long weekends.

Holidays

• Holidays New Year's Day in the U.S.: Federal Holiday, the Weekend Rule and the Traditions Behind It January 1 is a federal holiday. Here's when the next one falls, what happens when it lands on a Saturday or Sunday, what's closed, and how the Times Square ball and the Rose Parade started.
• Holidays Thanksgiving in the U.S.: Why It's the Fourth Thursday, What's Open and the Real Story of 1621 Thanksgiving is a federal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. Here's when the next one is, why Roosevelt changed the date, what's open, and what really happened at the 1621 harvest feast in Plymouth.
• Holidays Christmas in the U.S.: Federal Holiday Rules, What's Open and Where the Traditions Come From Christmas Day is a federal holiday; Christmas Eve usually isn't. Here's when the next Christmas falls, how the weekend rule works, what's open, and how Santa and NORAD's Santa tracker became American traditions.