When Did Independence Day Become a Federal Holiday?

The other day, I went into our local bank and did some transactions.  They always have a question up on a board and I like to guess the answer.  The question was, "In what year did the 4th of July become a federal holiday?"

Answer possibilities:  1776, 1870, 1938, 1941

I thought and thought.

Hard question.

I thought perhaps 1870, but, maybe not   That was about the time we were getting into Decoration Day, now memorial Day.

I knew it wasn't 1776.

That left 1938 and 1941.  A real hard call.

In 1870, it became a federal highway, but unpaid.  In 1941 it became a federal holiday with federal emplyees being paid.

So, the answer was 1941, just before we went to war.

--GreGen