Today is the “Presidents’ Day”
February 20th, 2012 - 8:17 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattWashington, Feb 20 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Americans celebrate the Presidents’ Day on the 20th of February 2012. The day is used to mark the birthday of America’s first President George Washington which falls on the 22nd of February.
Ironically, the Presidents’ Day never falls on the birthday of Washington. The day always fall between the 15th and the 21st of February each year. The day has been marked since the early 1950s when Southern Californian Harold Stonebridge Fischer started a campaign.
He formed the Presidents Day National Committee and led the organization for two decades. The initial day used to honor the presidents in the United States was the 4th of March but the day was changed in 1971.
Different states find ways to honor individual presidents. The San Diego reports that, “In Alabama, the third Monday in February honors the birthdays of Washington and Thomas Jefferson, never mind that the latter was born in April. The third Monday in February is George Washington’s Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day in Arkansas and is an official state holiday.”
It was President Nixon who decreed that the third Monday in February should be set aside as a special day to honor the presidents.
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Tags: 1950s, birthdays, daisy gatson bates, decades, first president, fischer, gatson, george washington, national committee, president george washington, president nixon, presidents day, san diego, southern californian, state holiday, stonebridge, thomas jefferson, united states