Presidents' Day
Celebrate on: Third Monday in February |
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Until the mid-1970s, the February 22 birthday of George Washington, hero of the Revolutionary War and first president of the United States, was a national holiday. In addition, the February 12 birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the president during the Civil War (1861-1865), was a holiday in most states. In the 1970s, Congress declared that in order to honor all past presidents of the United States, a single holiday, to be called Presidents' Day, would be observed on the third Monday in February. In many states, however, the holiday continues to be known as George Washington's birthday. |
Texts are prepared by the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Krakow, Poland and abridged from the U.S. Department of State IIP publications and other U.S. government materials.
