The third Monday of February is known as Presidents’ Day in the United States. For nearly 100 years, America honored its first president, George Washington, on February 22. That was his birthday. But the date was not a national holiday until 1968.
That year, the U.S. Congress passed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The measure meant that some public holidays would always fall on a Monday. Today, the country honors its first president on the third Monday in February -- and not on Washington’s real birthday.
And the holiday is now commonly called Presidents’ Day. Many say it also honors Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. The nation’s 16th president was born on February 12.
The federal government, however, still recognizes the holiday as “Washington’s Birthday.”
The Uniform Monday Holiday Act gives workers a three-day weekend. It also gives shops and marketers a chance to have special Presidents’ Day sales.
Presidential Facts and 'Firsts'
Last year, Donald J. Trump made history when he took the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States. At 70 years old, he became the oldest elected president. Before Trump, Ronald Reagan was the oldest person to take office. He was 69 years old when he became president in 1981.
As the first billionaire president, Trump also replaced John F. Kennedy, the 35th president, as the richest man to serve as president.
Kennedy still holds the record for the youngest person to be elected president. He was 43 when he took office. Kennedy is also the youngest president to die in office. He was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas. He was 46 years old.
Another presidential assassination actually put the youngest person in the office of the president. In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt, then the vice president, became president at the age of 42. He took office after William McKinley, the 25th president, was shot and killed in Buffalo, New York.
The first president to die in office, though, was William Henry Harrison. The country’s ninth president only served 32 days, the shortest time of any president.
Another Roosevelt holds the record for the longest time in office. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president, held office for 4,422 days. After his death, the 22nd amendment was passed. It limited a person to two four-year terms as president.
Most Americans know that the two Roosevelts were related. But they may not know how, exactly, they were related. Here it goes.
Franklin Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt was also his fifth cousin once removed. And Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president, was Eleanor’s uncle. That makes the two presidents distant relatives.
But they were not the first relatives to both serve as president. That title belongs to the Adams. John Adams was America’s second president. His son, John Quincy Adams was elected as the nation’s sixth president.
The Bushes are the other father-son presidential pair. George Herbert Walker Bush was elected as the 41st president. His son, George W. Bush, was the country’s 43rd president.
Not everyone can run for president.
The U.S. Constitution says that a person must be at least 35 years old. A person must also have lived “within the United States” for at least 14 years. And they must be a “natural-born citizen.”
But the meaning of “natural-born citizen” is not exactly clear. People read the rule in different ways.
The first “natural-born” American president was not George Washington or John Adams. It was Martin Van Buren, the eighth president. He was born in 1782, six years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
All seven presidents before Van Buren, and William Henry Harrison, the ninth president, were not “natural-born” citizens. They were born before 1776, when the American states were still British colonies.
Hai Do wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
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Words in This Story
uniform - n. staying the same
cousin - n. a child of your uncle or aunt
assassinated. - v. killed usually for political reasons
distant - adj. used to describe a relative who is not closely related
pair - n. two people who are related in some way or who do something together
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FEBRUARY, 2018 | NATIONAL LASH DAY | PRESIDENTS DAY | NATIONAL CHOCOLATE MINT DAY
NATIONAL LASH DAY
National Lash Day is observed annually on February 19. This is a day to promote the love and need for true and false eyelashes. It is a day we all can honor our lashes.
Eyelashes are a key staple to every makeup look and beauty enthusiast. Lashes have always been known to make your eyes pop and stand out from the crowd. They help keep dirt or substances from entering your eye and aid in preventing infections. Eyelashes also help prevent eye moisture from evaporating. Needless to say, eyelashes are a true necessity for every person at any age.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Use #NationalLashDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
National Lash Day was submitted by House of Lashes and proclaimed by the Registrar at National Day Calendar to be observed annually on February 19.
At House of Lashes we believe in an Eco-Chic green environment and pledge to keep our products animal cruelty-free. In this way, we manufacture all of our lash boxes out of recyclable packaging and our lashes are hand-crafted using 100% sterilized premium human hair and cruelty-free synthetic fibers. Our inspirations are derived by remarkably creative and diverse communities and have a passion to serve individuals to make them look and feel beautiful. We strive to become the top pioneering eyelash brand around the globe as we pride ourselves in premium quality products and continue to provide excellent customer service. “HOL” is founded by a beauty and fashion expert who spent four years researching lashes from all over the world narrowing down the top ten most flattering styles for every eye shape. At House of Lashes, we believe lashes make everything better and stand behind the mantra ‘Quality is Queen.’
PRESIDENTS DAY
Presidents Day is a federal holiday which, in the United States, is observed on the third Monday in February.
This day is set aside, by more and more of America’s population, to honor all of the past United States Presidents that have served our country. Two of our nation’s most prominent Presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, are brought to mind as we celebrate this day. Their birth dates, which fall close to this same time, have been honored for decades and always will be.
Presidents Day is celebrated with public ceremonies in Washington, D.C. and throughout the United States.
Take Our Poll
HOW TO OBSERVE
Use #PresidentsDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
The origin of Presidents Day lay in the 1880s when the birthday of George Washington was celebrated as a federal holiday. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill, which moved several federal holidays to Mondays. During the debate on the bill, it was proposed to have George Washington’s birthday be renamed Presidents Day to honor the birthdays of both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Washington’s birthday is February 22nd and Lincoln’s birthday is February 12th. Although Abraham Lincoln’s birthday was celebrated in many states, it was never an official federal holiday. Following much discussion, Congress rejected the name change. However, after the bill went into effect in 1971, Presidents Day became the commonly accepted name.
NATIONAL CHOCOLATE MINT DAY
Recognized by the US National Confectioners Association, National Chocolate Mint Day is observed annually across the nation on February 19th. This holiday has been set aside for all the chocolate mint lovers to eat their favorite treats all day long.
The Aztecs and Mayans are given much credit for their ways with chocolate, and while chocolate was brought back to Europeans, they were not fond of the dark, bitter bean, and it was used more for medicinal purposes.
As it was mostly consumed as a hot beverage, Europeans mixed mint, cinnamon and other spices to make it more palatable. Over time, sugar was added, and the combination of chocolate and mint became fashionable.
Fast forward to the mid-1800s when inventions and improvements in processes made it possible for confectioners to begin mass producing chocolates. Even then, small candy shops served a local public. Advertisements for mint chocolates, or chocolate mints, did not start showing up in newspapers until the turn of the century.
The International Dairy Foods Association states that mint chocolate chip is the 10th most popular flavor of ice cream.
One of the earliest mass-producers of chocolate mints was Huyler’s in New York, which had a chain of stores across the country.
Today we find mint chocolate in everything from ice cream to brownies, cookies and candies, liquors and sauces.
Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies were first sold in 1953 and are still their most popular cookie.
Mint chocolate is also the name of an herb with edible leaves that taste like chocolate and mint.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Below is a favorite frosting recipe for chocolate cake. It looks great decorated with chocolate mint candies, a perfect to celebrate National Chocolate Mint Day!
Mint Frosting for Chocolate Cake
1 package cream cheese (8 0z), softened
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon mint extract
Green food coloring
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in mint extract, 2 to 3 drops of green food coloring and 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar until mixed. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Store frosted cake in refrigerator.
The following are some other chocolate mint recipes for you to try:
Layered Mint Chocolate Fudge
Chocolate Mint Brownies
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Mint Pie
And, for those who are thirsty:
Chocolate-Mint Martini
Use #ChocolateMintDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
Within our research, we were unable to identify the creator of National Chocolate Mint Day.
While Presidents’ Day was originally declared a federal holiday for the District of Columbia in 1879 to commemorate George Washington’s birthday (and is still officially called “Washington’s Birthday”) it is now widely celebrated in honor of all U.S. presidents.
But some presidents are more memorable than others. We all know Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, but can you place James K. Polk or Millard Fillmore in U.S. history? This Presidents’ Day, test your knowledge of American history by taking our U.S. presidents quiz and putting all the presidents in order chronologically, from the most recent all the way back to Washington.
To take the presidents quiz, click or tap and drag the portraits to put each president under the dates he was in office.
IT’S CALLED Presidents’ Day, but it’s really about the two national leaders whose birthdays fall 10 days apart in this otherwise dreary month. George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were very different sorts of men in background, breeding and education, but they shared a common trait that has, to paraphrase Lincoln’s ringing words, lit them down in honor to the latest generation: an unshakeable commitment to the survival of the new national union on these shores. Both devoted their lives to it.
Washington did not wish to take on the job of president in his later years. Although a well-to-do landowner (and holder of enslaved people), he had subjected himself to prolonged hardship and danger, including the possibility of being hanged for treason, as he led the Continental forces to victory in the American Revolution. He was tired. But he assumed the office because he could see even then how difficult it would be, without solid and respected leadership, to form a unified nation in the face of all the forces of division working against it. He went on to provide the country with an essential model of decorum, dignity and respect for democratic ideals.
And yet, a half-century after his presidency, the unity seemed all but gone as the country came to blows over its greatest sin: human slavery. In that difficult time, Abe Lincoln, who rose from poverty and developed an early loathing of slavery, became the leader of the new Republican Party, which fought to keep the institution from spreading into the territories. He hoped to avoid civil war but would not do so at the cost of accepting a breakaway Confederate nation, a large part of whose population could be bought, sold and tortured with impunity for who knows how many years to come. The conflict that ensued cost some 750,000 American lives, and yet at the end of it Lincoln called for malice toward none, charity for all — for forbearance and unity.
The historian Robert Dallek, in an essay last year in Vanity Fair magazine, relates how a third president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was able to reach “across cultural and political lines to remind Americans that they were one nation” at a time when the country was suffering through a crisis far more severe than anything that has faced it since.
Today the party of Lincoln is under the sway of a president more openly divisive, on grounds of race, ethnicity, religion and culture, than any in our modern history. Donald Trump would, writes Mr. Dallek, “do well to study Roosevelt and, surely, Lincoln, along with other presidents, to grasp how they sought (or failed to seek) broad popular unity. It says something fundamental about the man that no one imagines he would actually do this. The problem is not just that it would take work. The larger problem is that he has no interest in the goal.”
And that is the sad truth on this Presidents’ Day.
