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Features
: Holidays :
Patriotic Holidays : Washington's Birthday,
Lincoln's Birthday
 Presidents
Day
George
Washington, first US president of the United
States - "the father of our country"
- was born on February 22 according to modern
calendars. Washington's birthday was declared
a federal holiday and first celebrated
during the final year
of his presidency.
George Washington Coloring Page
 Abraham
Lincoln, sixteenth US president, was born
February 12. Lincoln's birthday was first commemorated
in 1865, the year after his assassination, when
both houses of Congress gathered for a memorial
address. His birthday was never officially declared
a national holiday, although some (northern)
states adopted and observed it as a legal holiday.
Abraham
Lincoln Coloring Page
Presidents Day Congress passed the Monday
Holidays Act in 1968, to create more 3-day weekends
by moving the official day of observation for
many patriotic holidays to a Monday observation.
This legal act changed the US official observance
of Washington's birthday from February
22 to the third Monday in February beginning
in 1971. Although there was interest in changing
the name to Presidents' Day, and making the
holiday one to honor both Lincoln and Washington,
Congress did not pass that legislation, so the
US holiday we observice is officially known
as Washington's Birthday.
So where did "Presidents" Day originate?
The law made the first observation of the Monday
holiday for Washington's birthday effective
starting in 1971.
That year, President Nixon
proclaimed the holiday as Presidents' Day,
to commemorate all past presidents, not just
Washington and Lincoln -although this was not
the intention or the law passed by Congress.
So, although the federal holiday the US observes
on the third Monday in February is officially
Washington's birthday, the popular notion and
name for the holiday has evolved into "Presidents"
Day.
Washington's birthday and Presidents Day Links
http://www.patriotism.org/presidents_day/
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/washington1.html
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