January 16

Martin Luther King Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States federal holiday marking the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around the time of King's birthday, January 15. The floating holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, though the act predated the establishment of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by fifteen years.

King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed on January 20, 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

History
1219 - Floods in Northern Netherlands after storm, 1,000s killed
1493 - Columbus returns to Spain on his 1st trip
1761 - The British capture Pondicherry, India from the French.
1900 - The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
1909 - British explorer Ernest Shackleton finds magnetic south pole
1909 - David, Mawson & Mackay reach south magnetic pole
1920 – The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris.
1920 - Georgia declares independence
1965 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1967 - 1st black government installed in Bahamas
1969 – Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
1973 - USSR's Lunakhod 2 begins radio-controlled exploration of Moon
1989 - USSR announces plan for 2-yr manned mission to Mars
2006 - Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.

Events
Flag Day or Magen David Day (Israel)
Teacher's Day (Thailand)

For details, contact Datacentre