One of the earliest federal holidays enacted by Congress, Presidents’ Day honors the birthday and legacy of the first U.S. President, George Washington.
Observed on the third Monday of February each year, the special day is celebrated through patriotic parades, historical reenactments, and readings of major presidential speeches, including Washington’s Farewell Address.
“It’s a really good opportunity to reflect on the origins of the [presidential] office and what was intended by Washington and the other framers at the Constitutional Convention,” Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, tells TIME.
Here are 10 facts that make Presidents’ Day a distinct, and often misunderstood, national holiday.
Presidents’ Day goes by another name
Despite its popular moniker, the federal holiday known as Presidents’ Day is officially called “Washington’s Birthday” under Section 6103(a) in Title 5 of the U.S. Code.
“Americans, prior to the revolution, celebrated the King’s birthday quite regularly, and they started to transition to celebrating Washington’s birthday about halfway through the war,” says Chervinsky. “By 1778, states and localities were celebrating Washington’s birthday, largely because it was common practice to have a sort of a birthday celebration, and he was a good stand-in.”
The holiday was established by an Act of Congress introduced by Republican Sen. Stephen Wallace Dorsey of Arkansas and signed into law by President Rutherford B. Hayes on Jan. 31, 1879. Initially observed by federal offices in Washington, it was expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices.
George Washington had two birthdays
Washington was born in Virginia on Feb. 11, 1731, according to the Julian calendar, which was introduced by Julius Caesar and used throughout the British Empire at the time.
In 1752, Britain and its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII to correct…
