Holidays make life more fun and are one of the ways we celebrate our culture, the traditions, the food gathering with friends and family.

In some cases, you even get time off from school or work.

While you can probably find a holiday for any occasion.

The United States has designated 12 days of the year to be federal holidays.

But what exactly does that mean?

It's easy to think of federal holidays as national holidays, but that's not totally accurate.

There are no true national holidays because each state is left to individually determine its own legal holidays.

Federal holidays get their name from the fact they are only legally applicable to federal employees, meaning the many, many different jobs that keep the federal government operating, such as secretaries, custodians, accountants and more.

Many employers and industrie choose to follow this calendar of federal holidays when deciding which days to be closed themselves, but only federal employees are guaranteed.

These days off beyond time away from work.

Federal holidays are created to celebrate a certain aspect of American life or history.

The first federal holidays were recognized in 1870, when New Year's Day, Independence Day, and Christmas Day were recognized for all federal employees in Washington, D.C. this was expanded to all federal employees across the country in 1885.

George Washington's birthday, February 22nd, was added to the list of federal holidays in 1879.

In 1968, the day was formally set for the third Monday in February and informally renamed to Presidents Day.

Declaration Day, now known as Memorial Day, started after the Civil War, veterans now working for the federal government wanted to participate in ceremonies honoring their fallen service members, but couldn't afford to lose a day's wages.

Originally set for May 30th, this day now falls on the last Monday in May.

Labor day is a day to honor workers, all of them.

While not tied to a patriotic or cultural celebratio like Memorial Day or Christmas.

This day of rest was already recognized by over half of states when it was passed in 1894.

Originally known as Armistice Day, November 11th is the day World War One formally ended.

Congress created this national peace holiday in 1938 to hono the veterans of the Great War.

The name was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to expand its scope and honor veterans of World War Two.

The Korean War, and other conflicts that would follow.

Thanksgiving is arguably one of our nation's most sacred holidays, but it was not actually a federal holiday until 1941.

Until that point, President dating back to George Washington had a time honored tradition of declaring a Thursday in late November or even early December as a day of thanksgiving and prayer.

After much debate over what day it should be.

Franklin Roosevelt signe a resolution in 1941 that said Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday in November, inauguration day is a holiday specifically for federal employees in Washington, D.C. that only comes around every four years, marking the start of new presidential terms.

Since D.C. is the headquarters for the federal government, giving federal workers in the region, this day off dramatically helps reduce traffic and encourages local attendance at the inauguration ceremony.

Columbus Day was already celebrated by 45 out of 50 states when it was federally adopted in 1968.

While it gets its name from explorer Christopher Columbus, Congress also intended for this day to honor the journeys of generations of immigrants to our country.

These days, many refer to it as indigenous Peoples Day instead, to recognize the painful history, a relocation and genocide directed towards Native Americans, and to take attention away from individuals like Christopher Columbus, who may be a famous explorer but nevertheless had a role to pla in the violence that followed.

The birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. January 15th was added to the list of federal holidays in 1983 to honor the life and legacy of one of our nation's most important civil rights leaders.

It is also known as a National Day of Service and Civic Engagement.

The most recent addition to our list of federal holidays is Juneteenth, added in 2021.

This holiday marks the date that news of the Emancipation Proclamation freeing of all slaves reached the people of Texas, the last Confederate state.

To learn of this news.

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act formally made our date based holiday, such as Washington's Birthday, to always be observed on a Monday.

This was in respons to over 90% support of the idea it made doing business with the government easier.

Plus, who doesn't like a three day weekend?

There has been recent legislation proposed that would make Election Day a federal holiday, but so far none of these have been enacted.

What holidays do you think should be made federal?