Lincoln's Birthday

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Lincoln's Birthday

Abraham Lincoln
Official name	Birthday of President Abraham Lincoln
Also called	Lincoln's Birthday
Observed by	Illinois and various other U.S. states
Type	Local
Significance	Honors 16th President of the United States
Date	February 12
Related to	Presidents' Day

Lincoln's Birthday is a legal holiday in the U.S. state of Illinois and some other states. It is observed on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth on February 12, 1809. If the day falls on Saturday or Sunday, it is transferred to the nearest weekday.

Many states that had formerly observed this holiday have created a joint holiday to honor both Lincoln and George Washington, sometimes calling it "Presidents' Day". It coincides with the Federal holiday officially designated "Washington's Birthday", observed on the third Monday of February. There has never been an annual Federal holiday honoring Lincoln.

Lincoln's Birthday falls on the same date as Darwin Day. Both Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on February 12, 1809. The organizers of the Darwin Day Celebration planned to celebrate the bicentennial of Darwin's birth in 2009, have written, "Lincoln freed American slaves from physical servitude while Darwin freed the human mind from the bonds of supernatural dogma. The positive influences of their legacies are as relevant in the world today as they were in the 1800s." [1] Both Darwin and Lincoln were on several lists of the 100 most influential persons of the second millennium A.D. (1001-2000), including those compiled by the Biography television series [2], where they were ranked as Nos. 4 and 23, and Life magazine [3], where they were ranked as Nos. 9 and 35.