Why Do NWS Forecasts Reference "Washington's Birthday" Instead of "Presidents Day?" (2024)

FAQs

Why Do NWS Forecasts Reference "Washington's Birthday" Instead of "Presidents Day?"? ›

Weather forecasts reference “Washington's Birthday” because that is the name of the holiday, by law. other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, the NWS, as a federal agency, must use the name designated in the law.

Contrary to popular belief, there actually is no Federal holiday called "Presidents Day." The holiday for the 3rd Monday of February is officially designated as "Washington's Birthday" in Section 6103(a) of Title 5 of the United States Code. This is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees.

“We would make George Washington's birthday more meaningful to many more people by having it observed on a Monday." He also proposed changing the name to "Presidents' Day" so Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays could share the holiday.

President Richard Nixon did not, as a widely circulated Internet story claims, issue a proclamation changing the holiday's name from Washington's Birthday to Presidents' Day. His Executive Order 115 on February 10, 1971, announced the new federal holiday calendar, as passed by Congress in 1968.

By the mid-1980s, Washington's Birthday was known to many Americans as Presidents' Day. This shift solidified in the early 2000s and half the 50 states changed the holiday's name to Presidents' Day on their calendars.

Presidents' Day is observed annually on the third Monday in February. In 2025, Presidents' Day will be celebrated on Monday, February 17.

Lincoln's Birthday was never a U.S. Federal Government holiday. The third Monday in February remains only "Washington's Birthday" in federal law.

It is often celebrated to honor all those who served as presidents of the United States and, since 1879, has been the federal holiday honoring Founding Father George Washington, who led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War, presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and was from ...

The shift from Washington's Birthday to Presidents' Day began in the late 1960s, when Congress proposed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

Why did George Washington have two birthdays? ›

According to the National Archives, George Washington was born on February 11, 1731. At this time, the Julian Calendar was in use. However, in 1752, Britain and all of its colonies adopted the Gregorian Calendar. The Gregorian calendar moved Washington's birthday ahead one year and 11 days to February 22, 1732.

The presidency of George Washington began on April 30, 1789, when Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1797.

Presidents' Day is celebrated on the third Monday in February because of the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill, which moved a number of federal holidays to Mondays when it was passed by the United States Congress in 1968. This change was intended to allow American workers a number of three-day weekends throughout the year.

In 1879, President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a bill into law making Washington's birthday a holiday. Originally only celebrated within the District of Columbia, the holiday became a federal one in 1885, marking the first time an American individual was memorialized via a federally recognized bank holiday.

The U. S. presidents with February birthdays are George Washington (February 22, 1732), William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773), Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809), and Ronald Reagan (February 6, 1911).

Please join us in Hodgenville as we celebrate Abraham Lincoln's 215th Birthday on Monday, February 12, 2024. The annual Lincoln Days Celebration Luncheon commemorating the birth of Abraham Lincoln will be Monday, February 12, 2024 in The Lincoln Museum Community Room (56 Lincoln Square) from 12 noon to 1 pm.

The shift from Washington's Birthday to Presidents' Day began in the late 1960s, when Congress proposed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

There were efforts right after Lincoln's death to get this birthday recognized as a holiday, but there has never been a federal Lincoln-birthday holiday. By 1890, Lincoln's birthday was observed as a paid holiday in 10 states.

Presidents' Day: February 19, 2024.

It is always observed on the third Monday of February, so it is only incidental that if sometimes falls on Washington's actual birthday, February 22. Whether on gets the day off depends on the employer. Most government employees get a day off. Employees in service or retail often do not.