Today, February 12th, is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Coming up soon, on February 22nd, is George Washington’s birthday. Although… there is some dispute about this date stemming from the switch in the 1700s from the Julian-style calendar to the Gregorian, with some placing his birth on February 11th. This coming Monday February 15th, we will celebrate around the country with a day off of work or school and big sales in all the stores on Presidents’ Day.
Why are we relaxing and shopping on this seemingly random date? What about William Henry Harrison and Ronald Reagan who were also born in February? And what of all the other presidents who happened to have been born in the remaining eleven months of year. Find out more about the interesting history of this holiday, including the fact that Presidents’ Day isn’t even the official name, in this article from Time magazine A Brief History of (What You Think Is) Presidents’ Day. Even more information can be found about the history of Presidents’s Day in this entry from History.com, including how we came to have our three day weekends and why Veteran’s Day used to always be on a Monday but now is not. For further presidential exploration check out some of these materials from our library.