Introduction

Antony Dickson/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images

It’s been a dense couple of months for holidays, including Christmas, New Year’s Day, Orthodox Christmas, Orthodox New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Mawlid (Prophet’s Birthday), the lunar new year, Lincoln’s Birthday, Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Valentine’s Day and Washington’s Birthday. And next week is Purim.

We wouldn’t get much work done if we all got every holiday off. But why does the federal government recognize some of those and not others? Christmas but not Mawlid. New Year’s Day but not the Orthodox or lunar new year. Washington’s Birthday but not Lincoln’s.

Should the U.S. have more or different official holidays?