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A quick guide to the meter—the standard unit of length—with 4 examples of where the meter is part of day-to-day life in the USA (instead of inches, yards, and miles).
The federal holiday on the third Monday of February is called Washington’s Birthday, while several US states celebrate it as “Presidents’ Day” (spellings vary). The holiday creates a long weekend.
Mount Rushmore in South Dakota shows four US presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln.
©iStockphoto.com/Richard McMillin
Presidents’ Day (officially “Washington’s Birthday”) is a federal holiday in the United States on the third Monday in February. Because it is a federal holiday, federal services, such as US Postal Service post offices, are closed on Presidents’ Day. Some schools close as well, especially in the DC area. Private businesses are usually open, as well as private mail and delivery companies. Public transport often operates on a Saturday schedule.
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Presidents’ Day is celebrated on a Monday to create a long weekend—initially only for federal employees. The holiday has only been celebrated on a Monday since 1971 when the US Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The act moved three federal holidays from their original dates to a Monday: Washington’s Birthday (originally February 22), Memorial Day (originally May 30), and Veterans Day (originally November 11, and moved back to that date in 1978).
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It all started with Washington’s Birthday. In 1885, the US Government decided to honor the first US president, George Washington, with his own federal holiday: Washington’s Birthday. It was celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday*, February 22. In 1885, this day was a Sunday.
Almost one hundred years later, in 1971, the US Congress changed the date for Washington’s birthday celebration to the third Monday in February to create a three-day weekend. Congress never changed the name—federally, the holiday is still called “Washington’s Birthday.”
The naming differences become clearer when you look at the state holidays. Several US states introduced their own state holidays with different names:
So both “Presidents’ Day” and “Washington’s Birthday” are correct. Today, most people use “Presidents’ Day” as the name for this holiday.
Presidents' Day or Washington's Birthday is a federal holiday in all US states. Federal employees will usually have a day off from work. 41 US states have instituted a state holiday on the same date, usually called “Presidents' Day” or “Washington's Birthday” or some variation thereof. State holidays are not necessarily public holidays, they can be observances as well—please check with your local state rules and regulations to see if Presidents' Day is a public holiday in your state.
* George Washington was born February 11, 1731, however, when the British colonies changed their calendar from Julian to Gregorian in 1752, Washington’s birth date became February 22, 1732.
Year | Weekday | Date | Name | Holiday Type | Area |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Mon | Feb 17 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2020 | Mon | Feb 17 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, IN, KS, KY, LA, NC, NM, RI, WI |
2020 | Mon | Feb 17 | Presidents' Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, KY, LA, WI |
2020 | Fri | Nov 27 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
2020 | Thu | Dec 24 | Washington's Birthday | State Holiday | Georgia, Indiana |
2021 | Mon | Feb 15 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2021 | Mon | Feb 15 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, NC, RI, WI |
2021 | Mon | Feb 15 | Presidents‘ Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, LA, WI |
2021 | Mon | Feb 15 | Washington‘s Day | State Legal Holiday | KY, NC, RI |
2021 | Fri | Nov 26 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
2021 | Thu | Dec 23 | Washington's Birthday | State Holiday | Georgia, Indiana |
2022 | Mon | Feb 21 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2022 | Mon | Feb 21 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, NC, RI, WI |
2022 | Mon | Feb 21 | Presidents‘ Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, LA, WI |
2022 | Mon | Feb 21 | Washington‘s Day | State Legal Holiday | KY, NC, RI |
2022 | Fri | Nov 25 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
2023 | Mon | Feb 20 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2023 | Mon | Feb 20 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, NC, RI, WI |
2023 | Mon | Feb 20 | Presidents‘ Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, LA, WI |
2023 | Mon | Feb 20 | Washington‘s Day | State Legal Holiday | KY, NC, RI |
2023 | Fri | Nov 24 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
2024 | Mon | Feb 19 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2024 | Mon | Feb 19 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, NC, RI, WI |
2024 | Mon | Feb 19 | Presidents‘ Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, LA, WI |
2024 | Mon | Feb 19 | Washington‘s Day | State Legal Holiday | KY, NC, RI |
2024 | Fri | Nov 29 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
2025 | Mon | Feb 17 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2025 | Mon | Feb 17 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, NC, RI, WI |
2025 | Mon | Feb 17 | Presidents‘ Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, LA, WI |
2025 | Mon | Feb 17 | Washington‘s Day | State Legal Holiday | KY, NC, RI |
2025 | Fri | Nov 28 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
2026 | Mon | Feb 16 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2026 | Mon | Feb 16 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, NC, RI, WI |
2026 | Mon | Feb 16 | Presidents‘ Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, LA, WI |
2026 | Mon | Feb 16 | Washington‘s Day | State Legal Holiday | KY, NC, RI |
2026 | Fri | Nov 27 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
2027 | Mon | Feb 15 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2027 | Mon | Feb 15 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, NC, RI, WI |
2027 | Mon | Feb 15 | Presidents‘ Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, LA, WI |
2027 | Mon | Feb 15 | Washington‘s Day | State Legal Holiday | KY, NC, RI |
2027 | Fri | Nov 26 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
2028 | Mon | Feb 21 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2028 | Mon | Feb 21 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, NC, RI, WI |
2028 | Mon | Feb 21 | Presidents‘ Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, LA, WI |
2028 | Mon | Feb 21 | Washington‘s Day | State Legal Holiday | KY, NC, RI |
2028 | Fri | Nov 24 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
2029 | Mon | Feb 19 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2029 | Mon | Feb 19 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, NC, RI, WI |
2029 | Mon | Feb 19 | Presidents‘ Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, LA, WI |
2029 | Mon | Feb 19 | Washington‘s Day | State Legal Holiday | KY, NC, RI |
2029 | Fri | Nov 23 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
2030 | Mon | Feb 18 | Presidents' Day | Federal Holiday | |
2030 | Mon | Feb 18 | Presidents' Day | State Holiday | All except DE, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, NC, RI, WI |
2030 | Mon | Feb 18 | Presidents‘ Day | State Legal Holiday | KS, LA, WI |
2030 | Mon | Feb 18 | Washington‘s Day | State Legal Holiday | KY, NC, RI |
2030 | Fri | Nov 29 | Presidents' Day (Observed) | State Holiday | New Mexico |
While we diligently research and update our holiday dates, some of the information in the table above may be preliminary. If you find an error, please let us know.
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