Every year on the third Monday of February, the United States celebrates Presidents' Day, also known as «Presidential Day».
Today's holiday, dedicated to the country's outstanding leaders, dates back to 1880, when the birthday of George Washington's Birthday, the first President of the United States of America, born on February 22, 1732, was first publicly celebrated.
Very quickly, this day became a real national holiday with luxurious balls at which prominent public figures made their speeches.
In 1971, a legislative act of Congress came into force, the purpose of which was to simplify the colorful calendar of US federal holidays, shifting the celebration of some of them to Monday. Washington's birthday was also covered by this law, which began to be officially celebrated on the third Monday of February.
But that's not all. Back in 1860, another great American came to power — Abraham Lincoln, who, as President, united the southern and northern states of the country fighting in the civil war and abolished slavery. His birthday (February 12) was first celebrated in 1865, when both houses of Congress met to honor his memory. And although this day has never been declared a national holiday, it is still celebrated by Americans in many states.
President Richard Nixon in 1971 proposed renaming Washington's birthday to Presidents Day, proposing to honor not only Washington (as by law) or Lincoln (according to the established tradition of some states), but also others who served their country as President of the United States.
Thus, the third Monday of February is celebrated by many as All US Presidents' Day, or Presidential Day, although officially this holiday remains George Washington's Birthday. Employees of government agencies rest on this day. For — stores and supermarkets, this is just another reason to take advantage of the three-day weekend and organize sales of winter models, weaving legends about presidents of different times into advertising.