Today is a day used to commemorate all the
individuals who have been given the title President of the United States in our
country’s history. We casually call this day that occurs every 3rd Monday
in February, Presidents’ Day. But in actuality if you look back at the history
of this holiday. It’s the combination of 2 holidays in one. George Washington’s
Birthday is actually on February 22nd, and was celebrated on that particular
day since 1879. But Abraham Lincoln’s birthday also used to be celebrated
separately as a federal holiday on February 12th throughout the years since 1866.
One year after his assassination by the famous stage actor John Wilkes Booth. The
Uniform Holidays Act of 1968 is what shifted Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays
to the same day and combined the 2 into one holiday. Instead of 2 separate
holidays like it had been prior to 1968. However, there has been no law
officially changing the actual name from what it had been, which was Washington’s
Birthday to Presidents’ Day. But all Americans as I said in this modern time,
on their own refer to it as simply Presidents’ Day which allows for the
remembrance of every president to be encompassed into one day.
