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The birthday of George Washington (1732-1799), hero of the Revolutionary War, president of the Constitutional Convention, and first president of the United States of America, is observed on this day. Celebrated for the first time in the late eighteenth century when George Washington was still president, Washington's Birthday became an official federal holiday in 1885. The Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968, which took effect in 1971, moved the holiday from February 22 to the third Monday in February. As a number of states also celebrated the February 12 birthday of Abraham Lincoln, some legislators advocated combining the two holidays into a single holiday called Presidents' Day. That proposal was rejected by Congress and the official name of the holiday remained Washington's Birthday. However, since state governments are not obliged to adopt federal holidays and can determine their own legal holidays, some states, such as Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Texas, renamed their state holiday "Presidents' Day," while other states, including Connecticut, Illinois, and Missouri, chose to observe two separate holidays to commemorate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. For more information, visit Britannica - Diversity Resources