Presidents’ Day honors Washington, Lincoln

It’s the third Monday in February and regardless of how the days fall, Presidents’ Day will never be celebrated on either of the birthdays of the presidents it was meant to honor.

Presidents’ Day has its beginnings in the 1790s when the Father of our Country and first president, George Washington, was still living. His birthday was recognized on Feb. 22.

Some 70 years later, the nation thought our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, was also worthy of a special day of recognition. Lincoln’s birthday was Feb. 12.

Washington’s birthday was a federal holiday, while Lincoln’s birthday was observed by most states as a state holiday, according to the National Parks Service.

The 90th Congress in 1968 wanted to create a uniform system of federal holidays – all on Mondays – so they voted the holidays into one. Established as Washington’s Birthday, the day was later changed to be known as Presidents’ Day, which has since become just as well known for being a large retail shopping day.

Ironically, Alabama does not recognize today as Presidents’ Day, but rather the official state calendar marks today as Washington and Thomas Jefferson’s birthdays. Jefferson’s birthday, by the way, is April 13.

Two other presidents were born in February – William Henry Harrison, our 9th president, was born on Feb. 9. Our 40th president, Ronald Reagan, was born Feb. 6.

October actually claims the title of having the most U.S. presidents’ birthdays. Six presidents were born in October. They are: John Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter.

President Barack Obama’s birthday is Aug. 4. He is 47 years old.