George Washington Son to Augustine & Mary his Wife was born the 11th Day of February 1731/2 about 10 in the Morning & was baptised the 5th of April following Mr Beverley Whiting & Capt. Christopher Brooks Godfathers and Mrs Mildred Gregory Godmother.—Record of George Washington’s birth in Family Bible

When is George Washington’s birthday?

Eleven and 22 February 1732. Yes, two birthdays! No wonder people are confused! It was so even during Washington’s life. The reason for the confusion is that the old-style calendar entry of 11 February 1731/32 became obsolete in 1752, when the British corrected their calendar by adding eleven days. This made Washington’s birth date under the new style 22 February 1732.

It seems confusing, but it is not really. New Year in the Julian calendar (which Britain followed until 1752) began on 25 March; in the Gregorian calendar (to which much of Europe converted in 1582) on 1 January. Thus any date from 1 January through 24 March was indicated by a slash, representing the two calendars. (The dates 25 March to 31 December were the same in both calendars.) The extra eleven days added to the Gregorian calendar compensated for the inaccuracies that had resulted after hundreds of years of computing dates by the Julian method, despite the use of leap years.

Well, when did Washington celebrate his birthday?

In the eighteenth century, birthday celebrations were not as common as now, and in fact many people did not even know their actual birthday. Washington did not celebrate his birthday at all until the public began to do so, during the Revolutionary War. One of the earliest public celebrations took place at the Continental army encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on 22 February 1778, when army musicians serenaded their commander in chief. By 1784 many in America were beginning to think of Washington’s birthday celebrations as a fitting way to honor the victorious American general; according to his own diary entries, however, Washington continued to busy himself with his typical plantation routine on his birthdays.

By 1778 Washington was celebrating his birthday, although with some ambivalence, on both 11 and 22 February. As he described it, “In reply to your wish to know the Presidents birthday it will be sufficient to observe that it is on the 11th of February Old Style; but the almanack makers have generally set it down opposite to the 11th day of February of the present Style; how far that may go towards establishing it on that day I dont know; but I could never consider it any other ways than as stealing so many days from his valuable life as is the difference between the old and the new Style.”

On a side note, Washington’s birthday is still an official holiday for federal workers, although the Uniform Holiday Bill of 1968 guaranteed that the day always be observed on the third Monday in February—always too early or too late to celebrate either the 22d or the 11th! President Richard M. Nixon’s executive proclamation declaring that federal workers celebrate Washington’s birthday in 1971 led to the erroneous conclusion that Nixon was responsible for the change.

So, should we celebrate the 11th or 22d—or a random Monday—in February? Given Washington’s statue as the “Father of Our Country,” I think it would be fitting to make it an eleven-day affair.

Frank E. Grizzard, Jr., is director of the Lee Family Digital Archive at Washington and Lee University and the author of several books on America’s first president. The above is adapted from his 143 Questions & Answers about George Washington, published by Mariner Media, 2009, all rights reserved.