We observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday because it was signed into law on this day in history

On Nov. 2, 1983, then President Ronald Reagan signed a bill named the “King Holiday Bill” that forevermore set the third Monday in January as a federal holiday in order to remember and observe the civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Did you know that this signing was 15 years in the making?

Here’s the story behind the fight that led to this federal holiday the U.S. gets to enjoy each January.

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Why did MLK Jr. day take 15 years to sign into law?

In total the holiday actually took 32 years to become recognized by the year 2000, according to the National Constitution Center.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 with the proposed bill reportedly put forward by former Democratic Michigan Congressman John Conyers, “to create a holiday in King’s honor,” on April 8, 1968.

While there was support for the bill, not just in the U.S. but around the world, it would take years of Conyers “reintroducing the legislation annually with the support of the Congressional Black Caucus, which he helped found.”

The fight to recognize King’s birthday as a national holiday was split into two different parts:

• The first part of the fight was for the holiday to be signed into law as a federal holiday.

• The second part of the fight was to get each individual state to recognize the holiday.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture reported that the process for civil rights activists to have the holiday signed into law would take 15 years, while it would take an additional 17 years for it to be recognized by all 50 states.

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Why do we celebrate MLK Jr. day?

This holiday is reportedly the only federal holiday designated “as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer and improve their communities.”

Conyers said in 2015 “to me, (King) is the outstanding international leader of the 20th century without ever holding office. What he did — I doubt anyone else could have done.”

The City of Asheville reported that King’s legacy is one that inspires people to continue progressing for a more “equitable world” and that King fought for the “rights and dignity of all people.”