Presidents' Day, celebrated each year on the third Monday in February, is a day when Americans honor the legacies of the U.S. presidents. The holiday was established in 1800, when Congress declared February 22–George Washington's birthday–a federal holiday. Still legally known as Washington's Birthday, Presidents' Day has become a day to honor not only Washington, but Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president who was born on February 12, and the lives and accomplishments of all U.S. presidents.
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Feb 22
Presidential
George Washington is born, 1732
On this day in 1732, George Washington is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, the second son from the second marriage of a colonial plantation owner.…
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Did You Know?
All of the U.S. presidents except for George Washington have lived in the White House; it wasn't completed until after Washington left office.
The origin of Presidents' Day lies in the 1880s, when the birthday of George Washington—commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and the first president of the United States—was first celebrated as a federal holiday. In 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill, which moved a number of federal holidays to Mondays. The change was designed to schedule certain holidays so that workers had a number of long weekends throughout the year, but it has been opposed by those who believe that those holidays should be celebrated on the dates they actually commemorate. During debate on the bill, it was proposed that Washington's Birthday be renamed Presidents' Day to honor the birthdays of both Washington (February 22) and Abraham Lincoln (February12); although Lincoln's birthday was celebrated in many states, it was never an official federal holiday. Following much discussion, Congress rejected the name change. After the bill went into effect in 1971, however, Presidents' Day became the commonly accepted name, due in part to retailers' use of that name to promote sales and the holiday’s proximity to Lincoln’s birthday. Presidents' Day is usually marked by public ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country.
Copyright © 1994-2009 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. For more information visit Britannica.com.
Find out more about Washington, Lincoln and the rest of the U.S. presidents
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