Transfer Day is a holiday celebrated in the U.S. Virgin Islands on March 31. It marks the transfer of the islands from Denmark to the United States that took place in 1917. The islands were initially held by various European countries, and were under the sole control of Denmark by 1754. Transfer Day could have taken place years earlier, but due to the construction and funding of the Panama Canal, the United States Senate rejected negotiations. Following war-induced money shortages and the potential German invasion of Denmark, both sides found the exchange mutually beneficial and ratified the Treaty of the Danish West Indies. Transfer Day is now celebrated on the islands in various ways, including parades, parties, and reenactments of the original Transfer Day.
