
Frontispiece from Aaron Bancroft, An Essay on the Life of George Washington
(Worcester, Mass., 1807) |
George Washington was born on
22 February 1732 in
Westmoreland County,
Virginia. His birthday became a national holiday in
1885 during President Chester Alan Arthur’s administration.
In 1968, the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill,
which took effect on 1 January 1971, moved the observance of Washington’s birthday to the
third Monday in February. At the time,
the House Committee on the Judiciary discussed renaming the holiday
“Presidents’ Day” but after debate, the name remained unchanged. Thus, the federal holiday is still known as
Washington’s Birthday.
The list of federal
holidays can be found in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code.
Related sites

Virtual Exhibits ||| Special Collections and Archives ||| Nimitz Library ||| USNA
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URL: http://www.usna.edu/LibExhibits/G_Washington/Washington.html
Last updated: 17 February 2006 |