On the third Monday in February, we honor our first President, George Washington, whose birthday is February 22.  We also traditionally honor President Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday is February 12. Washington’s Birthday was the first federal holiday to honor an individual's birth date.

In 1885, Congress designated February 22 as a holiday for all federal workers. Nearly a century later, in 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Law changed the date to the third Monday in February. The position of the holiday between the birthdays of Washington and Abraham Lincoln gave rise to the popular name of Presidents Day.