Presidents Day - February 16th 2009  

9 Things you wanted to know about Presidents Day - February 16th 2009

1. The official name is Washington’s Birthday.

2. This federal holiday is celebrated each year on the third Monday of February, though it was originally celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday of February 22nd.

3.It’s the first federal holiday to recognize an American citizen and was enacted in 1880 as a holiday for the District of Columbia only.

4. In 1885 it was named a federal holiday for all federal offices in the U.S.

5.It wasn’t until 1976 that Washington’s Birthday was moved to the third Monday of February in an attempt to establish it more along the lines of President’s Day to also honor Abraham Lincoln who was born on February 12th.

6.Currently 12 states have renamed Washington’s Birthday, President’s Day or a similar variation to honor all of the U.S. presidents.

7. In Massachusetts the holiday focuses on honoring presidents from that state and a few other states have passed similar holidays as well

8.Many American schools use the days leading up to Presidents Day to educate students about the history of the Presidents of the United States, especially Washington and Lincoln.

9.Since 1862, there has been a tradition in the United States Senate that George Washington's Farewell Addressbe read on his birthday.
Source http://www.patriotism.org/presidents_day/

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