Presidents’ Day…or Not
By Keiti | February 18, 2008
Oddly enough, growing up in a military family I never gave much thought to the history behind the different federal holidays – all they typically meant for me was a day off from school and generally a 3-day weekend.
With Presidents’ Day tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to look up the history behind it.
I think most of us know that Presidents’ Day was started to pay homage to our first President, George Washington. But did you know that even though his birthday is listed as the 22nd of February, but he was, in fact, born on the 11th of January? That’s a bit of a misnomer since both dates are correct. See, when Washington was born in 1731, the Julian Calendar was in use in the colonies of America and Great Britain, which marks his date of birth on the 11th. But the 11th of February corresponds to the 22nd of February in the Gregorian Calendar which didn’t come into use in the United States until 1751.
Who would have thought? Not me - especially since my knowledge of history sucks. I enjoy learning about it, I just don’t retain it very well. As it is, I didn’t even know the Julian Calendar existed until I started my current job where, for some reason, it’s utilized.
In 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act went into effect, designating Washington’s Birthday (as well as other federal holidays), to always fall on a Monday.
Popular thinking assumes that the day was to combine celebration of both Presidents Washington and Lincoln, but that is apparently not the case, nor did it change the holiday from Washington’s Birthday to Presidents’ Day, even though it is referred to as such.
Regardless of the specific (and legal) intent behind this holiday, I think it’s a great time to learn more about our countries Presidents, and how they helped move us to where we are today as a country. The White House has a great site where you can read biographies and learn some facts about each president here.
Topics: Holidays |