Today is Presidents Day, a time to commemorate the people who have led our country. In most places, the day is set aside to especially honor our first president, George Washington, and our 16th, Abraham Lincoln.

That traditional presidential combo isn't celebrated in Alabama, however.

First, some background

Both Washington and Lincoln's birthdays are in February (Feb. 22 for Washington, Feb. 12 for Lincoln) so the days were rolled into one and, thanks to the Uniform Holiday Bill passed in 1968, it always falls on the third Monday in February.

According to the federal government's holiday calendar, Feb. 15 is "Washington's Birthday." According to the Office of Personnel Management, that's the only official name used by the federal government for the holiday.

"Though other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is our policy to always refer to holidays by the names designated in the law," OPM said.

Washington's birthday has been a federal holiday since 1885. Lincoln's birthday was never officially designated a federal holiday, though it traditionally was commemorated in many states, mainly outside the South.

Celebration differs from state to state

If the federal government celebrates Washington's birthday, what do the states do? States aren't obliged to accept federal holidays, though many do and that flexibility has led to a hodgepodge of events tied to Presidents Day.

In 2012, Geometrx charted the variety of holidays centered around Presidents Day. They found 41 states celebrate some form of Presidents Day, with 38 of those doing so on in the third Monday in February. Nine states only observe Washington's birthday and 24 mark the day as simply "Presidents Day." Nine other states do not observe any form of Presidents Day.

Alabama's holiday is one of the most unique. The third Monday in February is officially celebrated as George Washington/Thomas Jefferson Day in Alabama. Jefferson, a Virginian, was the third U.S. president and principal author of the Declaration of Independence. The inclusion of Jefferson and omission of Lincoln seems a subtle snub at the Illinois Republican who led the Union during its war against the Alabama and the rest of the Confederacy.

The combination of Washington and Jefferson is an odd one, timewise - Jefferson's birthday isn't until April 13.

Alabama is the only state to combine Washington and Jefferson, though no state that was part of the Confederacy mentions Lincoln by name as part of its Presidents Day holiday.

South Carolina celebrates Washington's Birthday/Presidents Day; Mississippi, Georgia and Virginia commemorates George Washington Day; no holiday is observed in Florida, North Carolina or Louisiana; and Texas and Tennessee have Presidents Day.

Old Confederate state Arkansas follows Alabama's lead in charting its own path when it comes to Presidents Day, though it approaches the day from a different direction. Arkansas commemorates George Washington/Daisy Gaston Bates Day. An Arkansas native, Bates was a civil rights activists who played a central role in the integration of Little Rock's Center High School in 1957.

Bates died in 1999. In 2001, the Arkansas legislature added her name to that of Washington's on for the third Monday in February holiday.