Talk:Presidents' Day/Archive 1

Missouri Holidays
Missouri sets aside separate days for Washington, Lincoln, and Truman. See www.mo.gov/mo/moholidays.html.

Incidentally, federal holidays apply only to employees of the federal government. At first, they applied only to federal employees in Washington, D.C. Neither the president nor Congress has the power to designate state holidays.

Herb Evans 15:13, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Native citizen?
The article says this is "the first federal holiday to honor an American-born citizen" (diff). This is deceptive. He was born in North America, but (obviously) not in the United States, which is what's usually meant by "American-born", I think. I think it should be reworded.&mdash;msh210 &#x2120; 16:59, 13 November 2006 (UTC)


 * obviously there talking about the Continent of america, America is what people call the us, but America is the continents of north and south america, maybe American-born citizen of the united states would be okay.--74.133.36.130 16:14, 19 February 2007 (UTC)superchad

President's Day redux
There's been some back-and-forth in the Spelling section and at the top of the entry about "President's Day."

Sylvain1972, forgive me for having to revert your latest changes, but they were based on erroneous information above on this discussion page. "President's Day," while you see it on Web pages sometimes, as you see every kind of spelling error, can be said in a factual and neutral way to be disfavored. I think the way it's expressed in the entry as it stands is the most neutral and accurate way to sum up the situation: while "Presidents Day" and "Presidents' Day" are accepted by language and usage experts and make logical sense (because they're plural), "President's Day" is today considered incorrect by these experts. If "President's Day" were some state's official designation for the holiday, enshrined in statute, I think it would make sense to add this information to the spelling section, although since dictionaries and usage manuals, not politicians, are the authorities on spelling and punctuation, unless a significant number of states embraced this spelling I would still be skeptical about treating "President's Day" as an acceptable alternative. But in fact, as far as I can find and as far as the list above shows, there is not one state that has legally designated the holiday "President's Day." The only two that were formerly on the chart were Massachusetts and Arizona, but both were errors: Massachusetts (as the article has long said) calls the holiday "Washington's Birthday," and its statute contains no legal name at all (only a date); and Arizona law calls the holiday "Lincoln/Washington Presidents' Day." (In both cases the old references above were to Web sites of government offices, but not offices whose role it was to make official holiday designations--in the case of Arizona it was the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs. In both cases other government pages contradicted the ones cited--the law is the sure place to find the official designation.)

In the end, then, while of course you'll see "President's Day" used in some places, it is an uncontroversial, factual, neutral statement to say that this is considered incorrect by language authorities, and it is incorrect, as far as I know, to say that it is officially embraced by any legal authority.

(Yes, it was spelled that way on a White House Web page, but (1) it wasn't for the purpose of setting out the proper spelling, just the transcript of a speaking appearance, and (2) the president is the chief executive of the federal government, and we know that the federal government officially designates the holiday "Washington's Birthday." The White House doesn't maintain a separate stance from the rest of the federal government on holiday names.) --Factman 00:28, 28 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't entirely agree with you. To some degree, there can be no "language and usage experts" or "authorities" on the proper name of a mostly unofficial holiday that was recently invented by advertisers. Certainly, if users are attempting to celebrate two or more individuals and use "President's Day," that is simply a matter of improper spelling/punctuation, and language and usuage experts will rightly concur that they are incorrect. However, it is perfectly reasonable to conclude that some users have consciously chosen the singular, intending to celebrate the (singular) office of the presidency of the USA, or as an alternate rendering of "Washington's Birthday." In this case, the "authorities on spelling and punctuation" would concur that their punctuation is consistent with their intention. However, because the other two uses have been adopted offically by some states and "President's Day" has not, I'm content to let the article stand as it is.Sylvain1972 16:17, 28 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I've incorporated some minor changes to your edits that hopefully clarify the relevant issues. Sylvain1972 16:40, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Canada
Why is the only picture from a display in Toronto? The article doesn't mention the holiday being celebrated there. I also don't know whether Washington is looked favorably upon by Canadians. -- Beland 20:30, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
 * As a Canadian I can tell you that many American holidays have small celebrations in Canada due to the large number of US citizens and immigrants from the US in Canada. It does still seem weird to use a picture from Toronto in the article. Are there no good pictures from an American city available? The picture may still be usable in a section about celebrations in other countries however a lot more than just a picture would be required. - S —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.231.180.31 (talk) 15:32, 21 January 2008 (UTC)
 * The pic has since been changed. -- Beland (talk) 07:08, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

Why 3rd Monday?
Why is Presidents Day the 3rd Monday in February, rather than the 4th Monday? Washington's actual birthday, Feb. 22, is the 4th Monday, not the 3rd Monday. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.184.64.197 (talk) 22 July 2007


 * Probably to honor both Lincoln and Washington; it is celebrated between the 12th and the 22d (more precisely, no earlier than the 15th, and no later than the 21st). 216.179.123.198 (talk) 00:26, 6 February 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't think that is the reason, since the holiday was intended to be specifically to honor Washington's Birthday, and was not intended to include Lincoln nor any other president. I read somewhere that they made a mistake when they wrote the bill, but that seems unlikely, and even if that was the case, I'm sure they would have changed it by now.  In 1971 (the year that the bill took effect), Feb. 22 ironically fell on a Monday, so it would have been a 3 day weekend that year even without the move.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.184.64.197 (talk) 04:07, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Why should it be by state
Why should it be by state. It's a Federal Holiday, so shouldn't the federal check take precedence over a state check?
 * United States: Washington’s Birthday, the third Monday in February — Preceding unsigned comment added by 160.79.83.254 (talk) 19 December 2007

Rename Article to "Washington's Birthday"
As this article clearly states, the correct, legal, and official name for this holiday is Washington's Birthday. If the name of the article remains Presidents Day, then Wikipedia is perpetuating a falsehood. Leave the misnomer for the press: they get most things wrong anyway. I used to work for the Department of Defense for an agency in Washington, DC. When they received their printed calendars for the year, the name of the holiday was always printed as Washington's Birthday. If the federal government can get it right, so can Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.205.28.100 (talk) 12:30, 12 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Moved to Washington's Birthday. The official federal name should take precedence for the article name. Rillian (talk) 19:51, 30 May 2008 (UTC)


 * The problem with this is, the article was not just about Washington's birthday, it was also about the many official state holidays called President's Day formally. This should not have been moved with no discussion. Sylvain1972 (talk) 18:27, 16 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Then be bold and split the article. Other US Federal Holidays have an article using their official name, why should Washington's Birthday be different? Rillian (talk) 00:32, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

State holiday name survey
I thought it might be useful (or at least interesting) to do a state-by-state check of their names for this holiday.

My preferred method is to find a "legal holidays" reference in the state code, if possible.

If that is not possible, I look for calendars for state offices -- but problem with that is it is common for some state departments not to bother looking up the official state designations when making up their web calendars (commercial calendars / calendar software rarely follows official designations) — so if a site lists "Washington's Birthday" or "Daisy Gatson Bates Day" it is probably accurate, but if it lists "Presidents' Day" it may not necessarily be official.

Not surprisingly, Virginia uses "George Washington's Birthday"; but oddly Washington uses "President's Day." If anyone wants to join in, please do so. &mdash; Eoghanacht  talk 20:08, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

State list (so far)

 * Alabama: George Washington/Thomas Jefferson
 * Alaska: Presidents' Day
 * Arizona: Lincoln/Washington Presidents' Day
 * Arkansas: George Washington's Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day
 * California: The third Monday in February, no designation (CA Government Code §6700(e). Washington Day (CA Education Code §37220(a)(4))
 * Separate Lincoln Day February 12th (CA Government Code §6700(d); Monday or Friday of the week in which February 12 occurs (CA Education Code §37220(a)(3))
 * Colorado: Washington-Lincoln day (Colorado Statute 24-11-101. Legal holidays)
 * Connecticut: Washington's Birthday
 * Delaware: Presidents' Day
 * Florida: Washington's Birthday
 * Georgia: Washington's Birthday
 * Hawaii: Presidents' Day
 * Idaho: Washington's Birthday
 * Illinois: N/A (3rd Monday in February is not a state holiday, but Feb. 12 is a Lincoln's Birthday holiday)
 * Indiana: George Washington's Birthday
 * Iowa: Washington's Birthday
 * Kansas: Washington's Birthday
 * Kentucky: Washington's Birthday
 * Louisiana: Washington's Birthday
 * Maine: Washington's Birthday
 * Maryland: Washington's Birthday
 * Massachusetts: Washington's Birthday But in law only designates by date:
 * Michigan: Washington's Birthday until the 1990's, when TV started calling it Presidents Day Sale. (see Lincoln's Birthday below)
 * Minnesota: third Monday in February is Washington's and Lincoln's Birthday MN Statute 645.44 (Subd. 5)
 * Mississippi:
 * Missouri: third Monday in February is "Washington's Birthday."
 * Montana:
 * Nebraska:
 * Nevada:
 * New Hampshire: Washington's Birthday CHAPTER 288 HOLIDAYS Section 288:1   288:1 Holidays. – ..... the third Monday in February, known as Washington's Birthday;
 * New Jersey:
 * New Mexico:
 * New York:
 * North Carolina: Washington's Birthday Ref: North Carolina General Statutes: Chapter 103 - Sundays, Holidays and Special Days. § 103-4. Dates of public holidays. - Thanks, Hoshie 10:27, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * North Dakota:
 * Ohio: Washington-Lincoln day Ohio Revised Code General Provisions 1.14.C
 * Oklahoma:
 * Oregon: Presidents Day, for the purpose of commemorating Presidents Washington and Lincoln, on the third Monday in February
 * Pennsylvania:
 * Rhode Island: Not a state holiday
 * South Carolina:
 * South Dakota:
 * Tennessee: Washington Day
 * Texas: Presidents' Day
 * Utah: Washington and Lincoln Day
 * Vermont: Washington's Birthday
 * Virginia: George Washington Day
 * Washington: Presidents' Day
 * West Virginia:
 * Wisconsin:
 * Wyoming:


 * District of Columbia: Washington's Birthday


 * American Samoa:
 * Guam:
 * Northern Mariana Islands: President's Day
 * Puerto Rico: Natalicio de Jorge Washington y de Luis Muñoz Marín
 * Virgin Islands:

I changed the Virginia reference because in the section of its code that specifically defines the holidays it's called "George Washington Day" not George Washington's Birthday. Many states have references to other names in their codes or adminstrative rules (particularly in sections dealing with schools and state employee benefits), however, I believe this list should reflect the holiday as defined in each state's code section specifically defining the state holidays. Whether or not some state agency adopted a rule using the wrong name is irrelevant.

Alabama - Washington and Jefferson, or should that be Jefferson Davis?
Is it merely coincidental that Jefferson Davis was sword in as President of the Confederate States on this day? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thequickbrownfox (talk • contribs) 17:35, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

According to Section 1-3-8 of the Alabama Code 1975, the third Monday in February is a public holiday celebrating both George Washington's Birthday and Thomas Jefferson's birthday. Jefferson Davis' birthday is also a public holiday in Albama, but it is designated to be celebrated on the first Monday in June.KEDS65 (talk) 00:32, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

New York City (Mid-Winter Recess) aka President's Week
Grew up in NYC in the 80s-90s. We used to celebrate Lincoln's Birthday and the Washington's Birthday. We'd be off school two Mondays in succession. In the early 1990s (not 1890s) as mentioned, the NYC Department of Education created the Mid-Winter Recess. Instead, students were now officially off from school for an entire week in February.

Article on NY Times citing parental grief and complaints.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E4D8133BF931A15751C0A962958260&n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FOrganizations%2FB%2FBoard%20of%20Education%20 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.255.98.68 (talk) 19:34, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Lincoln's Birthday
In Michigan in the 1970's we had "Washington's Birthday" and "Lincoln's Birthday". I first heard of "Presidents Day" the 1980's when I read in an article in an encyclopedia that the Confederate states, not wanting to celebrate Lincoln's Birthday, combined the two and called it Presidents Day. Most people in Michigan never even heard of Presidents Day until the 1990's when national advertisers started hawking the "Presidents Day Sale". Someone asked me once (in the 90's) if Presidents Day was to honor all presidents or just the dead ones, and I replied that actually, it was just Abraham Lincoln, that the Confederate states renamed it Presidents Day. I've always considered Presidents Day to be a tad racist. Donnie Love (talk) 11:16, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

To Donnie Love --- There has never been an official federal holiday honoring Lincoln. The Confederate States have never celebrated a state holiday in honor of Lincoln so the so-called "Presidents Day" holiday did not originate in the South. The federal holiday has always been dedicated only to George Washington. Most states outside the old Confederacy celebrate both Washington and Lincoln state holidays. This is where the whole "Presidents Day" problem began.

While some attribute the origin of "Presidents Day" to the Monday Holiday Law of 1971, this is simply not so. The federal government did indeed move George Washington's Birthday holiday from February 22nd to the third Monday in February. However, the name never changed. Some states that celebrated both Washington and Lincoln state holidays decided to save money by combining two days because of their close proximity to each other. Of these "combining" states, the motivation for at least some of them was to make room for a Martin Luther King state holiday without incurring any additional costs by adding another holiday.

Of the states that combined their state Washington and Lincoln holidays, only about 6-10 decided to change the name to "Presidents Day." The holiday was never intended for all presidents. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JerryClinePatriot (talk • contribs) 02:25, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Observance and traditions, Missouri, CRS
I made a small change to the last sentence in the first paragraph under” Observance and traditions.” I changed “Presidents Day” to “Washington’s Birthday as it made more sense to me. The sentence now reads, “Over time, as with many federal holidays, few Americans actually celebrate Washington's Birthday, and it is mainly known as a day off from work or school, although most non-governmental workers do not get the day off.”

I also added some information regarding Missouri on the state list.

Another good resource for information on federal holidays is the Congressional Research Service report, “Federal Holidays: Evolution and Application.” The report is available at: http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/Federal_Holidays.pdf. Herb Evans (talk) 22:26, 20 February 2009 (UTC)Herb Evans

Lincoln Day in CA
It hasn't been observed on anything but a Monday since before I was in elementary school, which was in the mid-90s. Changed to reflect Purplebackpack89 (talk) 02:44, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

Calendar differences
Shouldn't it be mentioned somewhere that George Washington was born on February 11th under the Julian Calendar then in use, and that some time after the American colonies had adopted the Gregorian Calendar he very sensibly shifted his celebration to the 22nd to preserve the actual anniversary?WHPratt (talk) 18:57, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

"Presidents' Day" in first sentence, etc.
First off, I offer my thanks to the many good additions to this article made in the past week.

About some changes I made today:
 * Wikipedia standards pretty much require the name of article title should appear in the first sentence, preferrably at the beginning of the sententce. As much as I agree that the whole "Presidents' Day" myth is silly, it is (unfortunately) the most common name for the holiday and therefore should be mentioned in the first sentence.
 * When I checked the Illinios state code, I could find no reference to a state holiday for Washington, only for Lincoln.
 * I reformatted the links to other federal holidays using their legal names (such as "Christmas Day" rather than "Christmas").

As an aside, looking at federal holiday names, the apostrophe is used for possesive only (Washington's Birthday, New Year's Day). Holidays later created to honor someone (such as Columbus Day or Veterans Day) do not have an apostrophe. If "Presidents' Day" actually were a real holiday, it should be formatted "Presidents Day". &mdash; Eoghanacht  talk 13:32, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Apostrophes are used for the possessive, but also for the closely-related genitive case. Whether or not you think that the day "belongs" to the presidents (which is arguable), it is most certainly a day of the presidents, and hence the genitive case. However, there is some overlap between the genitive case and attributive nouns, and in this case the officially correct form is sans apostrophe. Nevertheless, a case could easily be made for either spelling, and it is in no way "silly" that people get confused. It is also a little insulting to explain it the way this article does (along with the linked reference), and I'd prefer we either remove that or else update it to be more accurate. -- KillerDeathRobot 06:50, 19 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm a little confused with what you are asking. The link in the article describes what is standard by the Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference and Associated Press Stylebook.  Therefore, the section on the spelling of the word is accurate and up-to-date.  By the way, the Government Printing Office officially styles the holiday as Presidents Day.  --Write On 1983 07:18, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Right now the first sentence starts "Presidents Day (or President's Day)" Shouldn't the version in the parenthetical be changed to "Presidents' Day" in any event? Mergy (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 20:20, 4 March 2008


 * The day should be called "Presidents' Day" since it is 2 specific presidents' day. It is the day of Washington and Lincoln. If it were called "Presidents Day" it would be honoring all presidents (presidents of companies etc.). 76.102.87.195 (talk) 02:56, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Should Presidents Day redirect here?
Presidents Day used to redirect to Washington's birthday. Should it again? President's Day, Presidents' day, President's day, and Presidents day all redirect here. I have started a conversation about this Talk:Presidents Day --Bruce Hall (talk) 03:40, 18 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes, I think so. --Miguelito928 (talk) 20:17, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Snopes.com disproves President Nixon started Presidents' Day
In the introductory paragraph it states that "Presidents' Day was started by President Nixon, to honor all past presidents of the United States, and set on the day when Washington's Birthday was celebrated." However, Snopes.com disproves this statement by stating the following:

""President Nixon is frequently identified as the party responsible for changing Washington's Birthday into President's Day and fostering the notion that it is a day for commemorating all U.S. Presidents, a feat he supposedly achieved by issuing a proclamation on 21 February 1971 which declared the third Monday in February to be a 'holiday set aside to honor all presidents, even myself.' This claim stems not from fact, however, but from a newspaper spoof. Actually, presidential records indicate that Nixon merely issued an Executive Order (11582) on 11 February 1971 defining the third Monday of February as a holiday, and the announcement of that Executive Order identified the day as 'Washington's Birthday.'""

I am new to Wikipedia editing and would like to solicit recommendations. Should the statement be removed? Replaced? Thanks. --Miguelito928 (talk) 20:53, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

This page is misnamed
It should be Presidents Day, not Presidents' Day. (The day doesn't belong to presidents, but honors them.) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.167.56.39 (talk) 18:08, 7 December 2006 (UTC).

This holiday is not "really Washington's Birthday" as this article mistakenly says -- The whole reason it's called "Presidents Day" instead of "Washington's Birthday" is that this country used to celebrate both Lincoln's Birthday (Feb. 12) and Washington's Birthday (Feb. 22). These two holidays were collapsed into Presidents Day (in what year, I do not recall), hence the name "Presidents Day" and not "Washington's Birthday" or "Lincoln's Birthday," as the two days were called before BOTH great men lost a day unique to each of them. There is a healthy amount of editing that this piece requires to put it back on the right track. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mpersky (talk • contribs) 18:03, 17 February 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree with that. Yes, you have to be old enough to remember that there were once TWO holidays in February, one for Washington's Birthday and one for Lincoln's.  This was too much time off in February for the Powers That Be and they were munged together and foisted upon us as 'Presidents' Day'.  And incidentally, both 'President's Day' and 'Presidents Day' are wrong.  The day honors two specific presidents. 24.27.31.170 (talk) 04:34, 22 February 2011 (UTC) Eric

I think once the state list is completed above, whatever name is most prevalent should become the name of the article. If that is "George Washington's Birthday" than I think the article should be renamed that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.208.130.158 (talk) 20:15, 19 February 2007

This page should be named "Washington's Birthday", simply because the correct name for the U.S. federal holiday is Washington's Birthday. Here's the paragraph from US Code, Title 5 that defines federal holidays:

§ 6103. Holidays (a) The following are legal public holidays: New Year’s Day, January 1. Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., the third Monday in January. Washington’s Birthday, the third Monday in February. Memorial Day, the last Monday in May. Independence Day, July 4. Labor Day, the first Monday in September. Columbus Day, the second Monday in October. Veterans Day, November 11. Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November. Christmas Day, December 25. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.101.136.224 (talk) 22:15, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

It may be the correct name for the U.S. federal holiday (I understand that), however, I still concur with the stated opinion of Mpersky that this article is misnamed. I propose renaming this Wikipedia article to "Washington's Birthday (Presidents Day)". My reasoning for such a change are stated following this proposal.

The way this article is named currently could be (and was to me, at first) very misleading, in that it could make one, when looking up relevant information, believe, or assume, that George Washington's actual birthday (i.e. the day George Washington was born) is always the same day as, what many refer to as the federal holiday, Presidents Day ("the third Monday in February"), which is not true in the slightest way. (According to George Washington's Wikipedia article, his date of birth was February 22, 1732.) This would make it seem that the day George Washington was born changes every year, which is contrary to the idea that someones' birthday signifies the (one) day (in their birth year) that they were born. (See the Birthday Wikipedia article.) I also agree with any other point of argument made by Mpersky, that this article is misnamed. Thank you. --Matt1299 (Talk) 20:45, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
 * You think someone might get confused and think Washington's date of birth changes from year to year? Powers T 13:51, 11 January 2010 (UTC)


 * It is confusinmg if not explained. In the old style calendar, the year used to roll over in March rather than on January 1, so the year was still technically 1731 when George was born, although December 31, 1731 had just gone by and April 1732 was soon to come.  Sometimes, old style dates were often recorded in a style like "11 February 1731/2" during the transitional time. WHPratt (talk) 16:48, 4 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Very true, but I don't see what that has to do with the month and day of Washington's birth, which Matt1299 implied could be misunderstood. Powers T 14:02, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

Actually it should be "Presidents' Day" because the day is honoring 2 or 3 specific presidents. If it were spelled "Presidents Day" (without the apostrophe) it would be a day honoring all presidents (presidents of companies, etc.). It is specifically Washington's & Lincoln's day. 76.102.87.195 (talk) 02:52, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Actually it should be whatever states officially call it, and there are three versions. From a grammatical standpoint, it is neither a day that belongs to a president or to multiple presidents. It is a day that celebrates presidents. Just as Veterans Day celebrates veterans and just as with Christmas, Memorial, Labor and Independence, a day that celebrates something mentions what it celebrates, followed by the word "day" with no apostrophe. But it's a moot point since the correct version goes by what any state legislature enacted. In most cases, as is the case with the Federal government, it's Washington's Birthday. The birthday belongs to Washington, but the day does not belong to presidents any more than Veterans Day belongs to Veterans. It celebrates them.Hagrinas (talk) 02:26, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Which Monday?
Which Monday in February should be used?
 * The 1st
 * The 2nd
 * The 3rd (currently used)
 * The 4th (can be Washington's actual birthday)
 * The 5th (only in leap years starting on Friday)
 * The last (usually the 4th, but it can also be the 5th; see the above option)

February 29 falls on a Monday 15 times in a 400-year Gregorian cycle, in the years 2016, 2044, 2072, 2112, 2140, 2168, 2196, 2208, 2236, 2264, 2292, 2304, 2332, 2360, and 2388. GeoffreyT2000 (talk) 16:30, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Used for what? The third Monday is the official Federal holiday and this article is about that Federal holiday. --Iloilo Wanderer (talk) 02:28, 17 February 2015 (UTC)

Unrelated Section
I deleted a section on postage that honors the president. Didn't think it was related to the topic. I've pasted it below. If anyone thinks it does belong, you can put it back, I just don't see how an article on president's day relates to presidential postage. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Agenbite (talk • contribs) 22:33, 7 November 2010 (UTC)

Tricentennial 2032
What will happen during Washington's 300th birthday in 2032? In 2032, the observed Federal holiday falls on Monday, February 16, 2032. GeoffreyT2000 (talk) 03:48, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

Ohio official state holiday nomenclature
The current state of the article indicates that the day is officially known as "Washington–Lincoln Day in ... Ohio". There is a single reference to this from a web document (from 2001).

However, multiple other locations on official Ohio government websites indicate that "Presidents Day" is the nomenclature used: the Ohio Attorney General's website and elsewhere on the Ohio legal codes website, as well as other websites, for example.

Certainly, I'm no authoritative expert, but I was born and grew up in Ohio and have never heard or seen mention of "Washington-Lincoln Day" (not in schools, government offices, official state forms, etc).

Does anyone else have any other sources of authoritative evidence on this naming for Ohio?

Velocitay (talk) 21:08, 4 February 2016 (UTC)

Washington's actual birthday 1732?
When was Washington's actual birthday in 1731 or 1732? If this is a page about his birthday, why is there no mention of has actual birthday and why and how and by how much it changed? On the page about George Washington it says his birthday was Feb 11, 1731 according to the Old Style Calendar. When he was born it was not the old style calendar it was the actual current calendar that everyone in Britain or its colonies used. According to the page about the Gregorian calendar the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendar changed by 11 days in the year it was adopted by the British in 1752. While it may be clear to others, it is not clear to me as to why the year he was born changed from 1731 to 1732. Was the Old Style calendar one year off of the Julian calendar? It is also not clear to me as to when the Gregorian calendar was adopted in Virginia if George Washington's year of birth shifted by one year then did the year it was adopted also shift by one year? was it really in 1751 Old Style that it changed to 1752 Gregorian?

At any rate, the page on George Washington's birthday should probably mention the fact that his birthday changed when he was 20 years old give or take a year and/or eleven days. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ncgeier52 (talk • contribs) 21:36, 9 February 2016‎ (UTC)
 * In the Old Style Calendar, the first day of the year was March 25. Since February 11 comes before March 25, the year changed from 1731 to 1732 and the date changed to February 22 while 11 days (September 2–14, 1752) are removed from the calendar. GeoffreyT2000 (talk) 15:43, 15 February 2016 (UTC)


 * It's in an easy-to-miss footnote. I'd have given the fact more prominence. WHPratt (talk) 16:06, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

"actual birthday"
In the History section of the article. The sentence "...the holiday was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22..." bothers me.

It's only the "actual" birthday by the Gregorian calendar. That's like saying the "actual" measurement of 12 inches is 30 centimeters. Neither is more factual than the other, it only differs by how you measure, which are arbitrary choices. Washington's "actual" birthday is different in the Chinese and Jewish calendars, because all calendars are arbitrary, just like the Julian and Gregorian ones are. 2crudedudes (talk) 13:53, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

I believe that the concept we're after is: the day upon which the Earth is in the same position relative to the Sun as it was on the day of one's birth. In Washington's case, the date now designated "February 11" was now 11 days short of that marker, but the date now designated "February 22" marked it correctly. WHPratt (talk) 15:04, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

Massachusetts nomenclature
This article contains a contradiction. In the list of states that observe each name variation, Massachusetts is listed as President's Day, but the subsequent paragraph states "In Massachusetts, the state officially celebrates 'Washington's Birthday' on the same day as the Federal holiday." I cannot easily determine which is correct. Two seemingly authoritative state agencies disagree with each other: https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cishol/holidx.htm (Washington's Birthday) vs. http://www.mass.gov/anf/employment-equal-access-disability/hr-policies/legal-holiday-calendar.html 20:59, 20 November 2016 (UTC)~Martin Kessel — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mkessel (talk • contribs)

Lincoln and Michigan
The linked footnote stating that Michigan's holiday celebrates "Washington alone", LEGAL HOLIDAYS (EXCERPT) Act 124 of 1865, reads:
 * The following days namely: [...]; February 12, Lincoln's birthday; the third Monday of February, Washington's birthday; [...] for all purposes regarding the presenting for payment or acceptance, and the protesting and giving notice of the dishonor of bills of exchange, bank checks, and promissory notes, also for the holding of courts, except as otherwise provided in this act, shall be treated and considered as the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and as public holidays or half holidays.

The note about California mentions that Lincoln's birthday is a separate holiday. If I understand the above correctly, so does Michigan. If this is accurate, it should be mentioned as well. ./zro (⠠⠵) 18:23, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Requested move 13 October 2019

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: no consensus to move. Jerm (talk) 14:13, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

Washington's Birthday → Presidents' Day – The title is the common name for the holiday. This has been discussed before here. It's been over 10 years since that discussion, so I think it's worth a new discussion on this. Interstellarity (talk) 13:40, 13 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Oppose, "Washington's Birthday" is the federal-level name of America's national holiday (see the "History" section of the article) and per n-grams (click on the blue box "Search lots of books") which seem to show that "Washington's Birthday" is the long time common name (although the n-gram spelling could be tweeked further). Randy Kryn (talk) 14:27, 13 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Support - per WP:COMMONNAME. We are not limited to WP:OFFICIALNAME, so the legal title of the federal holiday is irrelevant. The ngrams numbers given above are misleading, as many sources will mention "Washington's birthday" in relation to the person, not the holiday. Also the time span is misleading as the federal act is from 1971.  Here is a better representation of the ngrams with like terms summed together which I think demonstrates that the the proposed title is more common currently. I'll note that Britannica calls it such, and other U.S. government sites like USCIS and the US Mint do as well, so the current name is not universal there. -- Netoholic @ 19:43, 13 October 2019 (UTC)
 * There are only 10 federal holidays in the U.S., so taking the official name into consideration for titling purposes seems legitimate. Another factor in favor of the present name is that George Washington's Farewell Address has been read in the U.S. Senate every year on this day since 1862. Randy Kryn (talk) 15:08, 14 October 2019 (UTC)


 * Oppose. There's Washington's Birthday and there's Presidents Day. They are different entities across the US. Perhaps there should be a separate article for Presidents Day? And of course there will be a big argument on how to spell it... Either Presidents Day or President's Day. I prefer the former. Fyunck(click) (talk) 19:58, 14 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Oppose per Fyunck(click).  Calidum   01:58, 20 October 2019 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

State government employee holidays
I don't know if the article needs to be changed for this, but I wanted to say that the paragraph on holidays for state government employees might be lacking a bit of context. As far as I could tell for New Mexico, this is just a way of giving state employees the day off for the day after Thanksgiving instead of President's Day, more so than people (beyond the state government holiday list) calling the day after Thanksgiving "President's Day" or observing it in any President-related way. Perhaps the same is true in Georgia and Indiana. However, this is sort of anecdotal and/or the evidence I could find from internet search engines, so maybe there is someone with more knowledge of this matter or better ideas about how/whether to cover it in the article. Kingdon (talk) 19:45, 15 February 2020 (UTC)

Known as President's day in more States
https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/usa/us-presidents-day-by-state http://geometrx.com/cgb/presidents-day-or-washingtons-birthday-which-states-observe-which-holiday/   From the list it looks like it is more widely known as President's day in most states, rather than Washington's birthday. From my own experience, living on the west coast currently, I never heard it referred to as Washington's birthday, except in the context of also Lincoln's birthday. I think the intro sentence and title should be adjusted, accordingly. Creating a separate article just because an archaic Federal statute has a different name, seems silly to me. Daniel.Cardenas (talk) 02:49, 17 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Interesting. I have lived on the West Coast all my life and I hear it called Washington's birthday all the time. I also hear President's Day. I'm staring at my wall calendar as I write this and it says "George Washington's Birthday Observed." There should probably be two articles on this just like there will be a Columbus Day and an Indigenous Peoples Day when they fall on the same celebrated day of the year. Heck, California now has two separate holidays celebrating Native Americans, and we have two separate articles talking about each one. And you mentioned about the context of Lincoln's Birthday...well, I would bet that many people celebrate Presidents' Day as Lincoln and Washington's birthday only... not all the presidents. So President's Day usually has Lincoln in it's own context and was created with that in mind. Fyunck(click) (talk) 04:16, 17 February 2020 (UTC)
 * If you live in California, the most populous state, it is officially called President's day. Same for the other west coast states.  Daniel.Cardenas (talk) 06:06, 17 February 2020 (UTC)
 * BZZZT. Not in California. The holiday is called "The third Monday in February"... that's it. And there are plenty of Federal places of work here where it's called Washington's Birthday. And not just Federal places. I pull up Kern County superior court proceedings and they are closed on Washington's Birthday. City of Imperial Beach California... again Washington's Birthday. Pasadena sent out notifications of closures for both Washington's Birthday and Presidents' Day. California employment laws, Washington's Birthday. Long Beach public libraries, Washington's Birthday. California is all over the place on this issue and for you to claim otherwise is unsupportable. And what does the "most populous state" have to do with the price of eggs? Fyunck(click) (talk) 06:25, 17 February 2020 (UTC)
 * https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&division=7.&title=1.&chapter=7., I see it is referenced as the "The third Monday in Feburary." Comes across to me as without a name, just specifying a date.   Searching for holidays on ca.gov lots of hits for  Presidents day, but no mention of the state calling anything else besides that in the top postings.  https://www.ca.gov/serp/?q=state+holidays    Daniel.Cardenas (talk) 07:58, 17 February 2020 (UTC)

The article's very first sentence specifically refers to the federal holiday. Given that, who cares whether certain states want to use different names? It's indisputable that 5 USC 6103(a) states, "The following are legal public holidays: ... Washington's Birthday, the third Monday in February." The article's title is correct and the first paragraph is written to ensure that it is correct. It should not be a surprise that some states use different names. There are a multitude of state holidays not observed at the federal level. Most of those are somewhat esoteric and confined to one or two states. But it would be impractical to name the Washington's Birthday article something else because then you'd get into edit warring about which state uses the "correct" or "best" name, not to mention the issue (already recognized in the article) that none of the "President[']s['] Day" crowd can agree on where the apostrophe goes (or whether to omit it altogether). It makes eminent sense to say, in effect, "this is what the US government calls it, the states have their own names, and the media get things wrong all the time anyway." (BTW, the OPM's website explicitly recognizes public ignorance as to the holiday's name: "This holiday is designated as 'Washington’s Birthday' in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal [sic] employees. Though other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law." See opm.gov 1995hoo (talk) 14:24, 18 February 2020 (UTC)

And even Presidents Day has two standard meanings among people... a day honoring Washington and Lincoln, or a day honoring all presidents (whether it's Andrew Jackson or Donald Trump). Fyunck(click) (talk) 19:55, 18 February 2020 (UTC)

Officially it's Washington Day in California
Under "Official State Holidays," this page declares that the official state holiday for Washington's Birthday is known as "The third Monday in February" in California.

This is untrue and absolutely ridiculous. It states in the code that this page references (footnoted that the third Monday in February is known as “Washington Day.”

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=EDC&sectionNum=37220.

EDUCATION CODE - EDC TITLE 2. ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION [33000 - 64100] ( Title 2 enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010. ) DIVISION 3. LOCAL ADMINISTRATION [35000 - 45460] ( Division 3 enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010. ) PART 22. SCHOOL OPERATIONS [37060 - 37712] ( Part 22 enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010. ) CHAPTER 2. School Calendar [37200 - 37223] ( Chapter 2 enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010. )

ARTICLE 3. Saturdays and Holidays [37220 - 37223] ( Article 3 enacted by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1010. )

37220. (a) Except as otherwise provided, the public schools shall close on the following holidays: (1) January 1. (2) The third Monday in January or the Monday or Friday in the week in which January 15 occurs, known as “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.” On the Friday preceding the day on which schools are closed, schools shall include exercises commemorating and directing attention to the history of the civil rights movement in the United States and particularly the role therein of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (3) The Monday or Friday of the week in which February 12 occurs, known as “Lincoln Day.” On the day that school is in session prior to the day on which schools are closed for that purpose, all public schools and educational institutions throughout the state shall hold exercises in memory of Abraham Lincoln. (4) The third Monday in February, known as “Washington Day.” On the Friday preceding, all public schools and educational institutions throughout the state shall hold exercises in memory of George Washington. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.178.242.213 (talk) 23:22, 8 January 2019 (UTC)

As of 2021, the California Secretary of State’s website lists the third Monday in February as “Presidents’ Day,” and does not identify separate state holidays for either Washington or Lincoln. I’m not sure if that’s reflective of statute or solely a designation by the Secretary of State: https://www.sos.ca.gov/state-holidays76.94.251.146 (talk) 21:28, 30 January 2021 (UTC)