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George Washington plus signature
Skip navigation barGeorge Washington portrait

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.

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URL: http://www.usna.edu/LibExhibits/G_Washington/Washington.html
Last updated: 17 February 2006