Many of you know today is President’s Day from the various amounts of sales adds or if you are one of the lucky few to have the day off from work. But do you know what the actual history of President’s Day is? Where is stems from and why it’s so important? Allow us to educate you a bit….
This holiday was first celebrated in commemoration of George Washington’s birthday in 1796, which was the last full year of his presidency. By the early 19th century, Washington’s Birthday had become a bona fide national holiday including many celebrated traditions such as speeches, receptions, etc. Then along came Abraham Lincoln who was another revered President also born on February 12th. Following the year after his assassination, Lincoln’s Birthday became a formal observance. Lincoln’s Birthday, however, didn’t actually make it to become a national holiday, although many states made it so.
In 1968, legislation was enacted that affected several federal holidays, one being Washington’s Birthday. It was decided that the observation of his birthday would be on the third Monday in February whether it fell on the 22nd or not (which is actually his birth date). This act was designed to simplify the yearly calendar of holidays and give federal employees some standard three-day weekends in the process.
Even though on record the third Monday in February is known as Washington’s Birthday, it has become popularly known as ‘President’s Day.’ To honor Washington and Lincoln as well as the other men who have served as president.
It is very important to realize how this holiday came to be and to honor the beloved men who have run our country. Given that this year is an election year, you can choose who will be celebrated on the next Presidents day. So be informed and vote in the 2008 election!!
Source: patriotism.org
Tags: birthday, day, february, first, holiday, Holidays, next, source, states, washington, year
This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 12:25 pm and is filed under Holidays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
