1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
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The Uniform Monday Holiday Act was signed into law June 28, 1968, and took effect Jan. 1, 1971. The law was designed to increase the number of three-day weekends for federal employees, which was a goal of the travel industry. It moved Washington’s Birthday, which had been observed on Feb. 22, and Memorial Day, which was observed May 30, from fixed dates to designated Mondays. It also established Columbus Day as a federal holiday designated not on Oct. 12 but on a Monday. Labor Day was also moved to the first Monday in September. For this reason, when it was created Martin Luther King Jr. Day was also scheduled on the third Monday in January. But the law removed Veterans Day from this list of “always-on-Monday” holidays, restoring it to its traditional date of Nov. 11, by a different law in 1975.
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