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Presidents' Day Jeopardy

Why the holiday exists, Washington and Lincoln, presidential firsts, the White House and presidents on money, for a February class. Free to copy, phone buzzers.

6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone

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The Holiday

  1. $200

    Presidents' Day is observed on the third Monday of this month.

    What is February?

  2. $400

    Officially, the federal holiday is still named for the birthday of this president.

    Who is George Washington?

  3. $600

    This 1968 law moved the holiday to a Monday, creating a three-day weekend from 1971.

    What is the Uniform Monday Holiday Act?

  4. $800

    Since the move, the holiday can never land on Washington's actual birthday, this date.

    What is February 22?

  5. $1,000

    Washington's Birthday first became a holiday for federal workers in the District of Columbia in this decade.

    What are the 1870s?

George Washington

  1. $200

    Washington commanded this army during the Revolutionary War.

    What is the Continental Army?

  2. $400

    Washington's plantation home in Virginia, on the Potomac River.

    What is Mount Vernon?

  3. $600

    Declining a third term, Washington published this famous letter to the nation in 1796.

    What is the Farewell Address?

  4. $800

    Washington's army spent the hard winter of 1777 to 1778 camped at this Pennsylvania site.

    What is Valley Forge?

  5. $1,000

    Washington took the oath of office in 1789 in this city, then the nation's capital.

    What is New York City?

Abraham Lincoln

  1. $200

    Lincoln was born in a log cabin in this state.

    What is Kentucky?

  2. $400

    Lincoln gave this short speech at a Pennsylvania battlefield in November 1863.

    What is the Gettysburg Address?

  3. $600

    Lincoln's 1863 order declared enslaved people in the Confederate states to be free.

    What is the Emancipation Proclamation?

  4. $800

    Lincoln was the first president from this political party.

    What is the Republican Party?

  5. $1,000

    Lincoln's own birthday, still a holiday in a few states, is this date.

    What is February 12?

Presidential Firsts

  1. $200

    The first president to live in the White House, he moved in in 1800.

    Who is John Adams?

  2. $400

    Born in 1782, he was the first president born a citizen of the United States rather than a British subject.

    Who is Martin Van Buren?

  3. $600

    At 43, he was the youngest person ever elected president.

    Who is John F. Kennedy?

  4. $800

    He is the only president elected to more than two terms.

    Who is Franklin D. Roosevelt?

  5. $1,000

    The first president to serve two non-consecutive terms, he was both the 22nd and 24th president.

    Who is Grover Cleveland?

The White House

  1. $200

    The president's office in the West Wing is named for this shape.

    What is an oval?

  2. $400

    When the British burned Washington in 1814, this first lady made sure a portrait of George Washington was saved.

    Who is Dolley Madison?

  3. $600

    The White House's street address is 1600 this avenue.

    What is Pennsylvania Avenue?

  4. $800

    The president's country retreat in the mountains of Maryland.

    What is Camp David?

  5. $1,000

    This Irish-born architect won the 1792 competition to design the White House.

    Who is James Hoban?

On the Money

  1. $200

    Washington's portrait appears on this bill.

    What is the $1 bill?

  2. $400

    Lincoln's portrait appears on this bill.

    What is the $5 bill?

  3. $600

    Lincoln appeared on this coin from 1909 until the Mint stopped making it for circulation in 2025.

    What is the penny?

  4. $800

    Washington has appeared on this coin since 1932.

    What is the quarter?

  5. $1,000

    The author of the Declaration of Independence appears on this seldom-seen bill.

    What is the $2 bill?

Final Jeopardy — Washington's Birthday

Washington was born on February 11, 1731, by the calendar then used in the colonies; Britain's switch to this calendar in 1752 made it February 22, 1732.

What is the Gregorian calendar?

How to run this board

Presidents' Day is a Monday off for most students and not much more, and this board fills in why it exists. Categories cover the holiday's own history, the two February birthdays it grew out of, presidential firsts, the White House, and the presidents who turn up in every pocket and wallet.

The Holiday column is worth reading closely: the federal name is still Washington's Birthday, and since 1971 it can never land on his actual birthday. For a longer review of all the presidents rather than this holiday, the library's US Presidents board goes further. The Final is a calendar puzzle, so give teams a moment before they wager.

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