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### George Washington's Birthday

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George Washington was born at Popes Creek Plantation in February 1732.
He was the oldest child of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington and was
followed by 3 brothers and 2 sisters. His father made the family's
living by growing tobacco and holding an interest in an iron production
business.

Mary Ball had been orphaned as a child, and it is generally

believed that she named her first son after her guardian, a local lawyer
and statesman named George Eskridge.

George Washington spent the first 3 formative years of his life on his
father's plantation and would return as an adolescent to visit his older
half brother, Augustine, Junior. It was here at Popes Creek that George
performed his first survey at 14.

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#### February 11, 1731 or February 22, 1732?

**"Presidents' Day" or Washington's Birthday?**

By the Julian calendar, which was in general use in Great Britain and
her colonies in the early 18^th^ century, George Washington was born on
February 11, 1731/2. March 25^th^ (the Feast of the Incarnation of
Christ) had earlier been celebrated as the start of the New Year, but
Washington's contemporaries celebrated that holiday on January 1. The
year, then, was expressed 1731/2.

On December 31, 1751 Great Britain officially switched from the Julian
to the more widely accepted Gregorian Calendar. Switching to the
*Christian* or Gregorian Calendar required the addition of 11 more days
to the year 1752, and retroactive re-dating moved Washington's birthday
back to the familiar date of February 22, 1732.

Washington's service to his

country and high esteem among his countrymen prompted many of them to
honor and celebrate his birthday while he was still alive. Some still
chose the 11^th^ (Old Style) while others the
22nd.![](media/image3.png){width="2.501388888888889in"
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![](media/image4.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}February 22 was observed as a federal
public holiday until
![](media/image4.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}1971 when President Richard Nixon
declared that in order to honor all past presidents, a single holiday to
be called *Presidents\' Day* would be observed on the 3rd Monday in
February.

Due to the legal mechanism that President Nixon used, the name
Presidents' Day never became the permanent name of the holiday, and the
day is still properly called George Washington's Birthday on all
official Federal Government calendars and writings.

Ironically, the 22^nd^ can never occur on the 3^rd^ Monday in February.

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#### Washington's Birthday Becomes the First American Holiday

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**George Washington's Birthnight Ball**

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#### Washington's Birthday Lives On![](media/image6.jpeg){width="2.5708333333333333in" height="3.642361111111111in"}

1832 -- For the 100^th^ anniversary of Washington's birth, the famed

Orator Daniel Webster declared that, "A hundred years hence, other

disciples of Washington will celebrate his birth, with no less of
sincere

admiration than we now commemorate it."

1839 -- Louisiana declared February 22 as a "Day of Grace."

1857 -- February 22 is designated a state holiday in Massachusetts.

1880 --George Washington's Birthday was first observed as a

Federal holiday.

1932 -- The George Washington Bicentennial Commission was

formed to coordinate almost 5 million events in 81 countries.

One example was the deeding of Washington's Birthplace to the

National Park Service.

*Text by Edward Raventon, 2008.*