Today is a federal holiday here in the United States. These days people know it as "President's Day". Or "Presidents' Day". Or even "Presidents Day". When I was growing up it was known as "Washington's Birthday".
It's an interesting story, really, how a day that began as a holiday dedicated to honoring the "Father of Our Country", George Washington, has turned into a day that eludes definition by many Americans. Some will tell you it's a day to honor Washington's birthday (February 22), some say it honors President Lincoln's birthday (February 12) and Washington's birthday, and still others will tell you it honors ALL U.S. Presidents. There isn't even agreement over placement of the apostrophe in the word "Presidents"!
At its inception in 1879, this holiday was known as "Washington's Birthday". It was our first federal holiday to single out an individual's birth date, and it seemed a fitting tribute to a man who led the colonies to a victory over England thus securing independence for our young country, and a man whose political leadership led him to become the first President of the United States.
Over time, and for various political reasons, "Washington's Birthday" has morphed into "President's Day". (To read a detailed account of this change in the holiday's name and focus, check out this article written for the National Archives.)
In honor of George Washington's birthday, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite quotes from the man himself:
It's an interesting story, really, how a day that began as a holiday dedicated to honoring the "Father of Our Country", George Washington, has turned into a day that eludes definition by many Americans. Some will tell you it's a day to honor Washington's birthday (February 22), some say it honors President Lincoln's birthday (February 12) and Washington's birthday, and still others will tell you it honors ALL U.S. Presidents. There isn't even agreement over placement of the apostrophe in the word "Presidents"!
At its inception in 1879, this holiday was known as "Washington's Birthday". It was our first federal holiday to single out an individual's birth date, and it seemed a fitting tribute to a man who led the colonies to a victory over England thus securing independence for our young country, and a man whose political leadership led him to become the first President of the United States.
Over time, and for various political reasons, "Washington's Birthday" has morphed into "President's Day". (To read a detailed account of this change in the holiday's name and focus, check out this article written for the National Archives.)
In honor of George Washington's birthday, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite quotes from the man himself:
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| Today's photo challenge prompt is "handwriting" |
♥C
Happy Washington's birthday. You have such a neat and legible handwriting. I must thank you for I had been using a non-finalized version of the challenge and I ended up clicking for a different prompt. Thanks and ...
ReplyDeleteWarmest regards,
Ruby