In 1885, President’s Day was established to honor and remember our first president, George Washington.

It was not until 1971 when this holiday was actually changed to the third Monday of the month of February. The reason it was changed to a Monday in 1971 was because the government passed a bill adding more three day weekends to the calendar. That way state workers had more days off. The act was named the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

President’s Day now honors all past and present presidents, but many states still have special days set aside to celebrate George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and other figures’ birthdays.