On Nov. 2, 1983, then President Ronald Reagan signed the bill named the “King Holiday Bill” that forevermore set the third Monday in January as a federal holiday in order to remember and observe the civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Here's what to know about whether government offices will be open or closed on Martin Luther King Jr., Day this year.

It was first proposed four days after King’s 1968 assassination outside a Memphis motel. It took 15 years until it became a federal holiday.