Holidays

Competing viewpoints over the direction of the nascent republic manifested in partisan Independence Day festivities in the 1790s.

Observance of this bygone tradition from the 19th century combined celebration and protest.

The Independence Day tradition dates nearly as far back as the country's beginning and was proposed by one of the Founding Fathers.

Americans have been honoring their dads since the early 20th century.

William Jackson Smart was a twice-married, twice-widowed father of 14 children.

Americans have been celebrating fatherhood since the early 20th century, but it took decades for Father’s Day to become a national holiday.

A century after the first observances, Juneteenth faced the possibility of becoming a forgotten tradition.

Enslaved people in Texas did not gain their freedom under the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation until June 1865.

The federal holiday commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States.

Eating red foods and promoting activism on Juneteenth pay tribute to the liberation of America’s formerly enslaved people.

Long before church services helped introduce Father’s Day to the American public, Catholics were observing St. Joseph’s Day.

The Fourth of July has been a cause for celebration since 1776.

President Grant called it a “day of reflection and gratitude,” and America hosted its first world’s fair.

For Muslims, the new year preserves a foundational moment of religious history.

A day dedicated to Old Glory picked up steam in the 19th century.

The Muslim holiday is also known as the “Feast of Sacrifice.”