When is George Washington’s REAL Birthday?
Although the federal holiday is held on the third Monday in February, George Washington’s birthday is observed on February 22. To complicate matters, Washington was actually born on February 11, 1731! How can that be?
George Washington was born when the Julian calendar was in use. During Washington’s lifetime, people in Great Britain and America switched the official calendar system from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar (something that most of Europe had already done in 1582).
As a result of this calendar reform, people born before 1752 were told to add 11 days to their birth dates. Those born between January 1 and March 25, as Washington was, also had to add one year to be in sync with the new calendar.
By the time Washington became president in 1789; he celebrated his birthday on February 22 and listed his year of birth as 1732.
And remember on WikiTree we use the Gregorian dates.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Date_Fields#Julian_vs._Gregorian_Calendar
