[JURIST] The United States observed a federal holiday [official website] Monday in honor of slain civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. [King Center profile], remembered for his leadership of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Courts, government offices, and many public universities were closed as tributes to King were held throughout the country.

Monday's commemoration [backgrounder] marked the first Martin Luther King Jr. Day since the death [JURIST report] of King's widow Coretta Scott King [King Center profile] last January. CBS News has more.