Presidents Day Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Presidents Day - Essay Example However from January 1, 1971 onwards instead of February 22, Presidents day started to celebrate on every third Monday of February. Since then Presidents day never happened in Washington’s actual birth day (February 22) as third Monday of February occurs in between February 15 and 21. In this year or 2011, Presidents day was on February 21. Thus, at present presidents day lost its significance as the actual birth day of America’s first president since it is celebrated based on the day rather than the date. Today, people celebrate Presidents day to mark their respect towards the entire Presidents of America, but most significantly George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. â€Å"The official US holiday is meant to honor only George Washington, but many people consider President's Day a day to honor both George Washington (born on Feb. 22, 1732) and Abraham Lincoln (born on Feb. 12, 1809)† (Activities, Worksheets and Crafts for Presidents Day).The story behind fixing t he presidents day as the third Monday on February is interesting. According to the Gregorian or "New Style" calendar that is most commonly used today, George Washington was born on February 22, 1732. But according to the Julian or "Old Style" calendar that was used in England until 1752, his birth date was February 11th. Back in the 1790s, Americans were split - some celebrated his birthday on February 11th and some on February 22nd.When Abraham Lincoln became president and helped reshape our country, it was believed he, too, should have a special day of recognition. Tricky thing was that Lincoln’s birthday fell on February 12th. Prior to 1968, having two presidential birthdays so close together didn't seem to bother anyone. February 22nd was observed as a federal public holiday to honor the birthday of George Washington and February 12th was observed as a public holiday to honor Abraham Lincoln’s birthday (Himiac). The confusion over the significance of Presidents day is still prevailing in America. Some people celebrate it for honoring first president George Washington whereas some others use it to honor Abraham Lincoln. In order to avoid confusion or controversy some people celebrate the entire week for Presidents day celebration. Some of the America schools and colleges conducting regular classes currently even on Presidents day. At the same time, many other schools in America often been closed for the entire week. In other words, Presidents day is celebrated or observed differently by the academic community. Even though Congress had made federal legislation for celebrating Presidents day, still individual states are keeping their preferences while observing Presidents day. States like California, Idaho, Tennessee and Texas started to use the term "President's Day rather than Presidents’ Day. The confusion about the Presidents day helped the business community to exploit it. Business people interpreted presidents day differently with t he help of different advertising campaigns and currently people’s perception about president day has been changed a lot. Instead of honoring the Presidents, current people use this occasion for shopping and enjoying. Presidents day is currently celebrated more by the business community. They use this occasion to boost their sales just like other significant occasions like Memorial Day, Christmas Day, Veterans Day, Columbus Day etc. Earlier most of the American shops were remain closed