Washington's Birthday is the official name designated to what is also commonly known as Presidents Day (or Presidents' Day).

Publicly celebrated since Washington was in office, the day was was originally implemented as a federal holiday by the United States of America federal government in 1880 for government offices in the District of Columbia and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices.

As the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the holiday was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22, and then shifted to the third Monday in February in 1971 by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.   After all, what good is a federal holiday that falls on a weekend or doesn't give you a 3-day weekend?

It was in 1968 that the term President's Day came up for legal consideration in the Congress to honor both Washington and Lincoln (George Washington who was born on Feb. 22nd and Abraham Lincoln born on Feb. 12th) but was rejected, though the holiday was moved to fall between the two President's birthdays.

In the mid-1980s, advertisers began to use the term "Presidents' Day" to promote special sales, which solidified the holiday's name in American culture.  The theme has expanded the focus of the holiday to honor Abraham Lincoln and often other Presidents of the United States.

Although Lincoln's birthday, February 12, was never a federal holiday, approximately a dozen state governments have officially renamed their Washington's Birthday observances as "Presidents Day," "Washington and Lincoln Day," or other such designations.

When Lincoln's Birthday is observed on the Friday preceding Washington's Birthday, the resultant four-day weekend is commonly called "Presidents' Day Weekend," particularly by retailers in their sale advertisements.

Today, few Americans prefer to call the holiday Washington's Birthday in lieu of President's Day, and most don't even realize which is the official federal designation.

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