| has gloss | eng: Before he became the first president of the United States, the early life of George Washington included both comfort and loss. According to the Julian calendar, Washington was born on February 11, 1731 (O.S.); according to the Gregorian calendar, which was adopted in Britain and its colonies during Washingtons lifetime, he was born on February 22, 1732. Washingtons Birthday (celebrated on Presidents Day), is a federal holiday in the United States. He was born at Popes Creek Plantation, on the Potomac River southeast of modern-day Colonial Beach in . Washingtons ancestors were from Sulgrave, England; his great-grandfather, John Washington, immigrated to Virginia in 1657. Georges father, Augustine Washington (1694–1743), was a slave-owning planter who later tried his hand in iron-mining ventures. His mother, Mary Ball Washington (1708–1789), lived to see her son become famous, though she had a strained relationship with him. In George's youth, the Washingtons were moderately prosperous members of the Virginia gentry, of "middling rank" rather than one of the leading families. |
