President’s Day

What is the meaning of President’s Day? Why is it a national holiday? Tomorrow February 20th, 2012 the United States of America celebrates President’s Day to commemorate the birthdays and lives of all 44 U.S. presidents. It was originally recognized as honoring George Washington’s Birthday, who was the first president of the United States. George Washington was born on February 22nd in the year 1732. In the 1880’s during the American Revolution it was first celebrated as a federal holiday. This day also honors the 16th president of the U.S. Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, which is February 12, 1809.
In the 1970’s Congress proposed that Washington’s Birthday be renamed Presidents’ Day to honor the February birthdays of both Washington and Lincoln. Presidents’ Day became the commonly accepted name and currently, many retailers have used this special day to promote sales.

Vocabulary
national- involving or relating to a nation as a whole
commemorate- to honor the memory of by some observance
president-the highest executive officer
revolution- an overthrow or replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.
federal-pertaining to a union of states under a central government
proposed- to offer or suggest
retailer- businesses that sell goods to individuals

Vocabulary Exercise
Complete each sentence with the correct vocabulary word.
1) Barack Obama is the 44th _________of the United States.
2) Every year during the third week in February we _____________ the lives and birthdays of the U.S. presidents.
3) The President can _________ a bill to Congress.
4) During the holidays, ___________make most of their money.
5) The American __________ occurred during the late 1700’s in which the thirteen colonies joined to break free from Britain and become the United States of America.
6) Under the U.S. Constitution, both the _________ and state governments are granted certain exclusive powers.
7) The _________ government includes three branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary.

Grammar point
The past tense is used for completed actions that happened in the past.
To form a regular verb in the past tense you add the suffix –ed to the ending.
For example: discover > discovered.
Verbs that end in –e just add a –d.
For example: decide> decided.
Grammar exercise
Put the correct form of the verb in the past tense.
Last night, while I was doing my homework, Angela (call)_________. She (want)__________to go see a movie. I (decide)_________not to go because I had too much work to do. I had (work)_______all day at the studio and I was tired. Later that night I (watch) ______the news. It (start)__________to rain and thunder and then the electricity (turn)________off. I (hope)______it would come back on but it didn’t so I went to sleep because I could not see anything.

To learn more about the presidents of the United States of America go to this History Channel website page: http://www.history.com/topics/the-us-presidents