Memorial Day, one of the United States' national holidays, is coming up next week. Here's what you need to know about it.

Memorial Day officially became the last Monday of May in 1971. Since then, the week that followed has been bullish for stocks, with the S&P 500 Index (SPX) averaging a 0.5% gain. That outpaces the typical weekly return of 0.17% in the same time frame.