The U.S. Financial Markets were closed in observance of President’s Day.
So, here’s the T on the so-called Presidents Day. Congress declared George Washington’s Birthday a holiday in 1879, according to the Library of Congress. The republic’s first presidentwas born on Feb. 22, 1732.
A number of sources indicate that the holiday was at first only celebrated within the District of Columbia but became widely recognized as a federal holiday in 1885, marking the first time an American individual was memorialized via a bank holiday.
The Uniform Holidays Act of 1968 changed the day of commemoration to the third Monday of February. The Library of Congress’s website says that the day’s designation was never changed to Presidents Day formally but is often referred to by that name because Feb. 12 is the birthday of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln.
It is that history of recognizing, initially, the first president and then, later, two presidents, or the presidency in general, that may be to blame for the style variations that tend to occur in written references to Presidents Day — or alternately, President’s Day or Presidents’ Day.