Who’s ready for a three-day weekend?
Whether you call it Presidents Day or Washington’s birthday, Monday, Feb. 16, will be the next three-day weekend.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis proclaimed Washington’s birthday a Florida state holiday.
➤ George Washington has 2 birthdays, sort of
Most Florida schools will be closed for the day, along with most government offices and services, including mail delivery and the stock market.
If you have the day off, be sure to enjoy it. It’ll be the last three-day weekend until Memorial Day the end of May.
When is Presidents Day?
Presidents Day is observed on the third Monday in February, although on the federal calendar it is designated as Washington’s birthday.
In 2026, Presidents Day will fall on Monday, Feb. 16.
Is Presidents Day a federal holiday?
Yes, but it’s known on the federal calendar as Washington’s birthday. It’s one of 11 federal holidays:
According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2026 holidays are:
Is Presidents Day a Florida paid holiday?
Yes, but only because Gov. Ron DeSantis recently added the day to the state calendar for 2026 as part of America’s sesquicentennial to celebrate George Washington’s birthday.
Congress has never declared the day a national holiday. Each state decides its own legal holidays.
➤ Florida to add extra state holiday for 2026
According to the Florida Department of Management Services, the 10 paid holidays — including the new one recently added by DeSantis — for state agencies in 2026 are:
Florida Gov. DeSantis proclaims day Washington’s birthday
DeSantis proclaimed Washington’s birthday a Florida state holiday, with state offices closed in observance on Monday, February 16, to honor “the leadership and legacy of Gen. George Washington, America’s first president and commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.”
Are Florida students off for Presidents Day?
Students in all but four of Florida’s 67 counties will be out for Presidents Day.
Among the four counties where schools will be open is Palm Beach County, where President Trump’s home, Mar-a-Lago, is located.
When was Washington’s birthday first observed?
Washington’s birthday became a federal holiday in 1879 to celebrate the birthday of George Washington, the first president of the United States, according to the Library of Congress.
Following the death of George Washington in 1799, his Feb. 22 birthday became a day of remembrance.
Washington’s birthday became a legal holiday Jan. 31, 1879.
The date was changed to the third Monday in February with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1971, according to the National Archives.
Prophetic words on three-day weekends?
According to the National Archives, during congressional discussions before passage of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Rep. Harold Gross of Iowa said:
“I have an idea if we make Monday holidays, to fulfill the promise to merchants that they are going to do a better business, that employees of the stores of this country will have no holidays.
“They will work at selling merchandise. That is about what will happen.”
Dan Heflin Kuykendall off Tennessee offered another viewpoint on making the holiday on a Monday.
“If we do this, 10 years from now our schoolchildren will not know or care when George Washington was born. They will know that in the middle of February they will have a three-day weekend for some reason. This will come.”
On federal calendar, it’s still Washington’s birthday, not Presidents Day
“Contrary to popular belief, neither Congress nor the president has ever stipulated that the name of the holiday observed as Washington’s birthday be changed to Presidents Day,” according to the National Archives.
Each state decides its own legal holidays.
Trivia: Washington’s birthday became the first federal holiday to single out an individual’s birth date, according to the National Archives.
‘Not all presidents held in same high esteem.’ Outcry greets attempt to change holiday’s name
Renaming Washington’s birthday to Presidents Day “would be unwise,” said William McCulloch of Ohio during discussions to rename the holiday in 1968, according to the National Archives.
“Certainly, not all presidents are held in the same high esteem as the father of our country. There are many who are not inclined to pay their respects to certain presidents.
“Moreover, it is probable that the members of one political party would not relish honoring a president from the other political party whether he was in office, no matter how outstanding history may find his leadership.”
Does George Washington have two birthdays?
Does George Washington have two birthdays, both Feb. 11 and Feb. 22? Not really, but sort of.
Washington was born in Virginia on Feb. 11, 1731, but that date was based on the Julian calendar.
In 1752, Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar, which moved his birth date to Feb. 22, 1732.
Is it Presidents Day or Washington’s birthday?
On the federal holiday calendar, the third Monday in February is designated as Washington’s birthday.
Neither Congress nor the president have ever stipulated the name of the holiday observed as Washington’s birthday be changed to Presidents Day, according to the National Archives.
So why is it called Presidents Day? What about honoring Abraham Lincoln?
The shift from Washington’s birthday to Presidents Day began in the late 1960s, when Congress proposed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.
The act included a provision to combine the celebration of Washington’s birthday with that of Abraham Lincoln’s, which fell on Feb. 12.
Retailers and advertisers celebrate the three-day weekend with sale promotions, and it wasn’t long before many Americans were thinking of Washington’s birthday as Presidents Day as the term began appearing in advertisements in the mid-1980s.
In the early 2000s, almost half of the states across America had changed the holiday’s name to Presidents Day on their calendars in honor of all U.S. presidents.
Is it Presidents’ Day, President’s Day or Presidents Day?
That depends on what style guide you are using and which state you’re in.
The USA TODAY Network and Associated Press prefer Presidents Day, but Chicago Style uses Presidents’ Day.
The holiday is called by several different names across the U.S., including: Washington’s birthday, Presidents’ Day, President’s Day, Presidents Day, and Washington and Lincoln Day, according to grammarbook.com
Based on Google, folks are searching for it both ways. One thing is definite: it’s Washington’s birthday on the federal calendar.
What is the Uniform Monday Holiday Act?
Signed by President Johnson, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act established that three national holidays will be celebrated on a Monday:
Cheryl McCloud is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at tallahassee.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Is it Presidents Day or Washington’s birthday? What Florida calls it
Reporting by Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
