Like many things, the more you look into it, the more confusing it gets. Apparently the official federal title is still Washington’s Birthday (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington’s_Birthday). But since it isn’t Feb. 22, it’s called President’s Day in most places.
If you want to be even more confused, the British Empire didn’t adopt the Gregorian Calendar until 1752, being reluctant to accept anything to do with the pope. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates).
So the day Washington was born, the calendar on the wall said Feb. 11. Converting this to the current calendar gives Feb. 22. Still, it’s not the exact day I object to—it’s the lack of respect for tradition.
Got this in an email, pretty good!
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What day is the 20th of February?”
I was talking with a 13-year-old neighbor girl and I asked her, “What day is the 20th of February?”
She said “It’s President’s Day!”
She is a smart kid.
I asked “What does President’s Day mean?”
I was waiting for something about Washington or Lincoln ..... etc.
She replied,
“President’s Day is when President Obama steps out of the White House, and if he sees his shadow we have one more year of unemployment.”
You know, it hurts when hot coffee spurts out your nose...