Presidents Day

The ongoing saga of American Bank Holidays continues as the 20th February rolls around and with it, the annual Presidents Day bank holiday - some of you might remember i mentioned this when talking about Martin Luther King Day a month ago. Anyway, the original version of the holiday was first held in 1796 and was to commemorate the birthday of George Washington who was born on February 22nd 1732. Well, at least according to the calendar in use since the mid-18th century - although the older calendar had his date at 11th February. But hey, who's counting? By the time the 19th century rolled around, Washington's birthday was an established national holiday - with traditions on the day intself including Birthnight Balls in various regions, speeches and receptions given by prominent public figures, and a lot of revelry (i.e. people getting pissed as a fart) in general. Then, as so often happens, real life decided to mess things up.

Along came Abraham Lincoln - another revered president (to this day) and also a February child like Washington. Everything was fine until Lincoln happened to get assassinated and exactly one year after this, both houses of Congress (The Senate and the House of Representatives) gathered for a memorial address in a formal observance of Abe's birthday - however, whilst the holiday became observed in some states, it was never made a federal holiday. In the 1970s, legislation was introduced to standardise the holiday as the third Monday in February whether it fell on Washington's birthday or not. Then, with the introduction of Martin Luther King Day, those States observing Lincoln's birthday decided to remove the holiday and so, whilst apparently today is officially still Washington's birthday, it has popularly (and in some states, legally) become known as Presidents Day. Now, who fancies lobbying for a Winston Churchill day in the UK?