It’s Presidents Day weekend and the Internet is buzzing about weather reports, special events, and of course, holiday sales. And others want to know, just what exactly are we celebrating? An act of Congress way back in 1880 set “George Washington’s Birthday” as a federal holiday to honor the father of our country, born on Feb. 22. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 sought to change the holiday to “Presidents Day” and its observance to a fixed Monday in February between the 15th and 21st, which falls close to Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on Feb. 12. While the name-change proposal actually failed to pass, it struck a chord and by the 1980s advertisers pushing the term established its unofficial acceptance as a way to celebrate Washington, Lincoln, and our other commanders in chief.
