In celebration of another three-day weekend, For many...
I thought I'd give you a little history of this holiday.
In 1862, Lincoln proclaimed "the people of the United States shall celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the Father of his Country by causing to be read to them his immortal Farewell Address.", declaring February 22nd, a day of celebration honoring Washington.
In 1885 a federal holiday was established in recognition of President George Washington's birthday.
Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, was celebrated in many states, but it was never an official federal holiday.
Washington’s Birthday was renamed Presidents’ Day to honor the birthdays of both former presidents since they are so close together.
But, in terms of Federal law, there is no "Presidents Day" — the holiday is officially Washington's Birthday.
Presidents’ Day became the commonly used name as a marketing tool to boost retail sales.
In 1968 the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill became law and moved a number of federal holidays to Mondays. The change was designed to create a certain number of three-day weekends for federal workers.
Four presidents actually have birthdays in February: George Washington (the 22nd), Abraham Lincoln (the 12th), William Henry Harrison (the 9th), and Ronald Reagan (the 6th).
Presidents' Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present.
As a federal holiday, many banks, schools, Post offices, the New York Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ are closed, and non-essential federal workers have the day off.
Even though it is a federal law, Some states do not officially observe the holiday on this day and do not have a day celebrating Washington or presidents in general.
Go figure...
Well, I hope that if you do get the day off, you enjoy the time.
