MLK day
Dr Martin Luther King (1929 - 1968) addresses civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, April 1965. Keystone/Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which falls on the third Monday in January, will be celebrated on Jan.21 this year. It is a federal and state holiday marking the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who was born on Jan. 15, 1929.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill marking the third Monday of every January as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. on Nov. 2, 1983, and since then, the day has been approved as federal holiday.

Here is a list of businesses and public services that will be closed or open on the holiday –

1.Postal services – While the U.S. Postal services will be closed, FedEx and UPS will remain operational.

2.Banks- While most banks will remain closed in observance of MLK Day, customer support centers and ATMs will be operational.

3. Stock market- The New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and most U.S. exchanges will also be closed.

4.Educational institutions – Most of schools, colleges and universities across the country will be closed on Martin Luther King Day 2019.

5.Retail and grocery stories – Grocery and retail stores will remain open with some also offering sales.

Other services that will remain closed include Department of Motor Vehicles offices and courts across the country.

Services that will remain open include transits, garbage collection and Washington boat ferries.

Martin Luther King Jr. is considered one of the greatest figures of the civil rights movement and was credited for the creation of Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

President Reagan once called him "a prophetic voice that reached out over the chasms of hostility, prejudice, ignorance, and fear to touch the conscience of America."

Though most of his speeches created a huge impact on people, it was the “I Have A Dream” speech that he gave in Washington, D.C., that remains in the hearts of everyone.

“We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone,” he said in the historic speech.

He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.