Reply Here's a look at what you can expect on Presidents Day. (Shutterstock) ARLINGTON, VA — Presidents Day, also known as the observed Washington's Birthday, will result in some service changes in Arlington County. The holiday was actually established in 1885 to honor President George Washington. Then, as part of a Uniform Monday Holiday Act that proposed the country celebrate holidays on Mondays rather than the day they fell on the calendar so that workers could have three-day weekends, it was proposed to be changed. That didn't go over so well at first. During debate on the bill, it was proposed that Washington's Birthday be renamed Presidents Day to celebrate the birthdays of both Washington on Feb. 22 and President Abe Lincoln's birthday on Feb. 12. Congress actually rejected the name change in 1968 version of the bill. But after the bill went into effect in 1971, Presidents Day became the commonly accepted name anyway.