Presidents' Day, known officially as Washington's Birthday at the federal level, is a US holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February.Here is a summary of information about the holiday from the source: It is often a celebration of all US presidents, but has been a federal holiday honoring George Washington since 1879. Washington led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War, presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and was the first US president, serving from 1789 to 1797. The state holiday may celebrate Washington alone, Washington and Abraham Lincoln, or some other combination of US presidents. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved the holiday to the third Monday in February in 1968, to give federal employees a three-day weekend. The presence and placement of the apostrophe in the name varies. Nearly half of state governments have officially renamed their observances "Presidents' Day", "Washington and Lincoln Day", or other designations. The following states use "President" in the official title: Hawaii, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Washington use "Presidents' Day"; Alaska, Idaho, Maryland, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wyoming use "President's Day"; Nevada and Oregon use "Presidents Day"; Maine uses "Washington's Birthday/President's Day" and Arizona uses "Lincoln/Washington Presidents' Day". Some states use "Washington" alone in the title: Virginia uses "George Washington Day"; Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, and New York use "Washington's Birthday". Other states use both "Washington" and "Lincoln": Montana uses "Lincoln's and Washington's Birthday"; Colorado and Ohio use "Washington–Lincoln Day"; Utah uses "Washington and Lincoln Day"; Minnesota uses "Washington's and Lincoln's Birthday". Still, other states use "Washington" and another person, for example, Alabama uses "George Washington/Thomas Jefferson Birthday" and Arkansas uses "George Washington's Birthday and Daisy Bates Day". California uses the generic term, "The third Monday in February". Delaware does not observe the Washington's Birthday federal holiday. In Massachusetts, the state officially celebrates "Washington's Birthday" on the same day as the federal holiday, but state law also directs the governor to issue an annual "Presidents Day" proclamation on May 29, honoring presidents with Massachusetts roots: Kennedy, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Calvin Coolidge. In New Mexico, Presidents' Day is observed on the Friday following Thanksgiving, for state-government paid holiday, although the legal public holiday remains the third Monday in February. The federal holiday honoring Washington was originally implemented by an Act of Congress in 1879 for government offices in Washington and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices. Celebrations are held throughout February in Washington's adopted hometown of Alexandria, Virginia. A food traditionally associated with the holiday is cherry pie, based on the legend of Washington in his youth chopping down a cherry tree. Federal and state government services close. The Purple Heart medal, which bears Washington's image, is awarded to soldiers injured in battle. Since 1862, the United States Senate has had a tradition of reading George Washington's Farewell Address on his birthday. The holiday is well-known for coinciding with sales discounts for big ticket items such as appliances, furniture, and mattresses. Since the mid-2000s, the National Basketball Association has held their annual All-Star festivities during the holiday weekend.

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