The Origin of Presidents Day

​BY HAROUN HOSSAIN

Presidents day originated in the 1880’s when George Washington's birthday was first celebrated as a federal holiday. 

His birthday was February 22nd and was one of the early federal holidays. In 1968 congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday bill which was proposed by an Illinois senator. This bill moved many holidays to Monday to give workers 3 day weekends.The bill also would combine Washington and Lincoln's birthday and call it President's Day; however, that part of the bill did not pass. 
Eventually, due to retailers marketing the day as President’s Day and Washington’s birth date, the third Monday of February became widely known as President’s day. Though, the name was never officially changed. Today some states still call it Washington’s birthday, but Presidents day is the most commonly used name.

Sources: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Presidents-Day
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/presidents-day