Presidents’ Day 2018

Today is Presidents’ Day which is celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, who was born on Feb. 22, 1732. Traditionally celebrated on Feb. 22, it was moved to Monday as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which was instituted to provide American workers with more three-day weekends.

Washington’s birthday was an unofficial observance for most of the 1800s and it was not until the late 1870s that it was decided it would become a federal holiday. Initially, the holiday applied to the District of Columbia but was shortly thereafter expanded to include the entire country. At this point, it joined four other federal holidays – Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving – and later would be joined by Martin Luther King Day, signed into law in 1983.

Most of us associate Presidents’ Day with shopping deals – which started shortly after it was decided that it would be part of the Uniform Monday Act. While it was originally instituted to celebrate the lives and achievements of all great executives, we don’t mind the bargains!