DATE OF WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY.
THE question may be asked some of our young readers why some persons claim that Washington was born on the 11th of February, and yet the 22d is celebrated as his birthday. Washington was born on the 11th of February, Old Style, 1732. In September, 1752, or twenty years after Washington's birth, the Parliament of Great Britain passed an act adopting the Gregorian Calendar in place of the Julian, which had been formerly used, thus following the example of the Catholic continental nations. This action changed the 3d of September, 1752, to the 14th. This was in colonial times, and the American possessions of Great Britain followed the rule. Hence the birthday of Washington was carried eleven days ahead in the Gregorian Calendar, or from February 11 to February 22, the former being the Julian, the latter the corresponding Gregorian date. The Catholic countries of Europe adopted the Gregorian Calendar, in accordance with a brief from Pope Gregory XIII., issued in 1582.—Household.