Historical eventJanuary 201986

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.

40th anniversary in 2026

Everything on January 20Original source

In context

When
Monday, January 20 198640 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
20th century · 1980s
Anniversary
40th in 2026
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 1986.

What happened

In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.

January 20 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1986Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  2. 1990Red Army
  3. 1991Sudan
  4. 1992Air Inter Flight 148
  5. 2001President of the Philippines
  6. 20092008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis
  7. 2009Iceland
  8. 2009First inauguration of Barack Obama
  9. 20182018 Inter-Continental Hotel Kabul attack
  10. 2018Taliban
  11. 2018Syrian civil war

Also in 1986

  • September 131986 Kalamata earthquakeA magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes Kalamata, Greece with a maximum Modified Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing at least 20 and ca…
  • September 5Pan Am Flight 73Pan Am Flight 73 from Mumbai, India with 358 people on board is hijacked at Karachi International Airport.
  • November 17Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628The flight crew of Japan Airlines Flight 1628 are involved in a UFO sighting incident while flying over Alaska.
  • October 20Aeroflot Flight 6502Aeroflot Flight 6502 crashed on approach to Kurumoch Airport in Samara, Russia (then Kuybyshev in the Soviet Union), killing 70 people on…
  • May 25Hands Across AmericaThe Hands Across America event takes place.
  • June 14Mindbender (Galaxyland)The Mindbender derails, killing three riders and severely injuring one at the Fantasyland (known today as Galaxyland) indoor amusement pa…
  • November 5USS RentzUSS Rentz, USS Reeves and USS Oldendorf visit Qingdao, China; the first US naval visit to China since 1949.
  • July 9New Zealand ParliamentThe New Zealand Parliament passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalising homosexuality in New Zealand.

Everything we record for 1986 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Martin Luther King Jr. Day”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/martin-luther-king-jr-day-1986-january-20, accessed October 29, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did Martin Luther King Jr. Day happen?

January 20 1986 — 40 years ago, on a Monday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.