In the United States there is no legal holiday in the sense of the
English bank holidays. A legal holiday is dependent upon state and
territorial legislation. It is usual for the president to proclaim the
last Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving; this makes it only a
legal holiday in the District of Columbia, and in the territories, but
most states make it a general holiday. Independence Day (July 4th) and
Labour Day (first Monday in September) are legal holidays in most
states. There are other days which, in connexion with particular events
or in remembrance of particular persons, have been made legal holidays
by particular states. For example, Lincoln's birthday, Washington's
birthday, Memorial Day (May 30th), Patriots' Day (April 19th, Maine and
Mass.), R. E. Lee's birthday (Jan. 19th, Ala., Fla., Ga., Va.),
Pioneers' Day (July 24th, Utah), Colorado Day (Aug. 1st), Battle of New
Orleans (Jan. 8th, La.), Bennington Battle Day (Aug. 16th, Vt.),
Defender's Day (Sept, 12th, Md.), Arbor Day (April 22nd, Nebraska;
second Friday in May R.I., &c.), Admission Day (September 9th, Cal.;
Oct. 31st, Nev.), Confederate Memorial Day (April 26th, Ala., Fla., Ga.,
Miss., May 10th, N. & S. Car., June 3rd, La., Miss., Texas), &c.
See M'Curdy, _Bibliography of Articles relating to Holidays_ (Boston,
1905). (T. A. I.)
HOLINSHED (or HOLLINGSHEAD), RAPHAEL (d. c. 1580), English chronicler,
belonged probably to a Cheshire family, and according to Anthony Wood
was educated at one of the English universities, afterwards becoming a
"minister of God's Word." The authenticity of these facts is doubtful,
although it is possible that Raphael was the Holinshed who matriculated
from Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1544. About 1560 he came to London
and was employed as a translator by Reginald or Reyner Wolfe, to whom he
says he was "singularly beholden." Wolfe was already engaged in the
preparation of a universal history, and Holinshed worked for some years
on this undertaking; but after Wolfe's death in 1573 the scope of the
work was abridged, and it appeared in 1578 as the _Chronicles of
England, Scotland, and Ireland_. The work was in two volumes, which were
illustrated, and although Holinshed did a great deal of the work he
received valuable assistance from William Harrison (1534-1593) and
others, while the part dealing with the history of Scotland is mainly a
translation of Hector Boece's _Scotorum historiae_. Afterwards, as is
shown by his will, Holinshed served as steward to Thomas Burdet of
Bramcott, Warwickshire, and died about 1580.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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