When and how did Christmas become an official government holiday?

Answer 1

Well, honey, Christmas became an official government holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law. Congress had declared it a federal holiday to give everyone a day off to stuff their faces with cookies and exchange gifts. So, there you have it - Christmas became official because even lawmakers need a break to binge-watch Hallmark movies.

Answer 2

Christmas became an official government holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law. This was part of a series of legislation that established federal holidays. The decision to make Christmas a federal holiday was influenced by the country's Christian traditions and the desire to recognize the importance of the holiday to many Americans.

Answer 3

Well, isn't that a lovely question! Christmas became an official government holiday in the United States in 1870 when President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law. It's a special time of year where we can come together and spread joy and kindness to one another.

Answer 4

President Ulysses S. Grant declared Christmas a legal holiday in 1870. The bill to make Christmas a holiday was introduced into the House of Representatives by Rep. Burton Chauncey Cook (Illinois). It was approved and passed to the Senate on June 24, 1870. When both houses had agreed on the wording (below) it was passed on to President Grant, who signed it on June 28, 1870.

Here is the wording of that act of Congress:

'An Act making the first Day of January, the twenty-fifth Day of December, the fourth Day of July, and Thanksgiving Day, Holidays, within the District of Columbia. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the following days, to wit: The first day of January, commonly called New Year's day, the fourth day of July, the twenty-fifth day of December, commonly called Christmas Day, and any day appointed or recommended by the President of the United States as a day of public fast or thanksgiving, shall be holidays within the District of Columbia, and shall, for all purposes of presenting for payment or acceptance of the maturity and protest, and giving notice of the dishonor of bills of exchange, bank checks and promissory notes or other negotiable or commercial paper, be treated and considered as is the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and all notes, drafts, checks, or other commercial or negotiable paper falling due or maturing on either of said holidays shall be deemed as having matured on the day previous."

APPROVED, June 28, 1870 by President Ulysses S. Grant.