Washington's New Birthday
George Washington and the Gregorian Calendar
When George Washington turned 21 years old, his birthday was moved from February 11th to February 22nd. He would privately continue to celebrate his birthday on the 11th for the remainder of his life.
The change in moving his birthday eleven days later in the month came as a result of legislation in Great Britain thousands of miles away. For centuries, most western countries had used the Julian calendar, which was adopted in 46 BC by Julius Caesar to improve the astronomical discrepancies of the old Roman calendar.
This Julian calendar was further reformed by the Gregorian calendar, also to correct astronomical discrepancies, as decreed by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Some European countries adopted it immediately, but the change to the Gregorian calendar for the rest of the western world took centuries. England did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752, so its American colonies therefore also did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752.
That spring Washington surveyed lands in present-day West Virginia. When his half-brother Lawrence died that year, George Washington inherited some of his property, and leased Mount Vernon, which eventually became his home.
That November, Washington began his military career as a major in the militia, and was appointed adjutant of the southern district of Virginia.
The changeover in calendars occurred in the month of September. Tuesday was September 1st, and Wednesday was September 2nd, but Thursday instantly became September 14th. Eleven days were removed to facilitate the adoption of the new calendar. It was also decreed that the new year of 1753 would begin on January 1st, not on March 25th as it had usually been up until that time. For instance, March 24th would be written as 1752, but March 25th would have been March 25, 1753. Therefore the year of Washington’s birth was also changed as well as the day, from February 11, 1731 (Old Style) to February 22, 1732. From now on, the new year would be reckoned as occurring on January 1st.
A few months after the September 1752 calendar change, in February 1753, George Washington would turn 21 years old, but now the 22nd would be the day he reached his legal majority, and not on the day he was born. In this year, the French and Indian War would ignite, and Major Washington began a long career as a military man and eventual military leader of American interests in the colonies. As General over the colonies’ Continental Army in war against the British Crown, his leadership abilities eventually made him everyone’s choice for first President of the United States.
His place in the founding of the nation made him an instant and permanent celebrity. A new nation seeking days of celebration naturally chose the birthday of the most preeminent leader of the times. Then George Washington’s birthday became Washington’s Birthday, no longer a personal birthday, but a national day of celebration. What day he celebrated it was taken out of his hands. In 1796, the last year of his Presidency, a ball was held in his honor on the 11th, what he considered his actual birthday, but other balls were held on the 22nd. This marking of his birthday on two days with separate celebrations continued for a few years, until eventually the Old Style calendar was forgotten by succeeding generations.
After Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Act, which took effect in 1971, Washington’s Birthday was moved to join the floating celebrations of both Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays to a single legal holiday, always on a Monday. Now it is commonly called President’s Day.
Sources:
Cunliffe, Marcus. George Washington - Man and Monument. (NY: Little, Brown & Co.
1982).
Noran, Donald N. “History of the Celebration of George Washington’s Birthday” as
quoting letters of George Washington (February 6, 1799) and Abigail Adams (February 15, 1798), reprinted article on Sons of the American Revolution website (http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/birthday.html).
US Department of State website. (http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/Archive/2005/Dec/08-
595872.html)
Viles, Jonas, ed. Letters and Addresses of George Washington. (NY: The Unit Book
Publishing Co., 1908).
World Almanac and Book of Facts. (NY: World Almanac Books, 2008).
