Why is Christmas day an official holiday in the US?
As languagehat indicated above, the Christmas is recognized as a federal holiday by 5 USC 6103(a). That particular statute was enacted in 1966. That section is derived from 5 USC 87, 28 Stat. 96, an earlier statute originally enacted in 1894. However, that section did not actually make Christmas a holiday. Instead, it made Labor Day a federal holiday “to all intents and purposes, in the same manner as Christmas….” An earlier section, 16 Stat. 168, enacted in 1870, appears to be the first law to establish federal holidays, including Christmas: You will notice that the law only officially recognizes holidays for the District of Columbia. In the strict sense, there are no federal “national” holidays in the United States. Each of the 50 states has jurisdiction over its holidays. In practice, however, most states observe the federal (“legal or public “) holidays, even though the President and Congress can legally designate holidays only for federal government employees. Federal holidays a
