George Washington, our first president, has a multitude of birthdays. Well, at least his birthday enjoys several dates for recognition. George Washington was born in Virginia on February 11, 1731, but he changed the date to February 22, 1732 when the British and the British colonies finally accepted the Gregorian calendar.
You see, there was a flaw with the Julian calendar which was ordered by Julius Caesar (thus the name) to be a 12 month calendar based on the solar year. The Julian calendar included 365 days but added a day every three years since the solar year is slightly longer than 365 days but much less than 366. By the middle ages, the too frequent addition of the extra day had moved the seasons ten days out of sync.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar to adjust for the additional days. This new style calendar, the Gregorian, dropped ten days from October and changed how the compensatory day would be added. Being deemed a Catholic order, primarily Protestant countries and their colonies did not adopt this new calendar for a number of years. On the other hand, many European records show two dates, old style and new style, until the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752.
As an aside, George Washington kept diaries throughout his life. It’s challenging to determine, especially during 1752, which dates he used in his diaries. (The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress)
Long before Congress made his Gregorian birthday of February 22 a Federal holiday, people celebrated the anniversary of Washington’s birth. On the 100th anniversary, there were many celebrations. Chief Justice John Marshall was requested to make a speech. Though honored, he declined saying that his voice was too feeble to be heard. (In 1832, microphones just were not available.)
On the 130th anniversary, people gathered to hear Washington’s Farewell Speech read. Later, the Senate began a tradition of reading the speech on Washington’s Birthday.
On January 31, 1879, Congress added February 22 to the list of federally recognized holidays. Then in 1968, Congress passed the Monday Holiday Law which moved the observance of Washington’s Birthday to the third Monday of February. Of course, the third Monday’s dates range from 15 to 21 and can never be either the 11th (his Julian birth date) or the 22nd (his Gregorian birth date).
Interestingly, neither Congress nor the President ever designated the third Monday in February as President’s Day (or Presidents’ Day or Presidents Day depending on the apostrophe or lack thereof). Just guessing, some enterprising marketing person probably originated the terminology in an attempt to combine a sale in recognition of Lincoln’s Birthday (on February 12) and Washington’s Birthday (on February 22).
Regardless, the upcoming holiday on Monday officially recognizes Washington’s Birthday.
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