Here’s a dilemma those born in a leap year might relate to: what do you do when your 21st birthday is not on the calendar? George Washington faced just this conundrum in 1752. He had been born on February 11, 1731. When England and its colonies switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, beginning the year on January 1 instead of March 25, 11 days of 1752 were eliminated. What would have been Washington’s 21st birthday, February 11, 1752, instead became February 22, 1753. In order to celebrate his 21st, Washington chose to rewrite his date of birth to February 22, 1732. The ladies and gentlemen of the Norfolk Club may not have been aware of this when they celebrated his birthday in grand style on February 22, 1897, at the Eldridge Gymnasium (now Town Hall). The newspaper account of the lavish affair makes us wish there was color photography at the time. The reporter described gowns of blue Dresden silk trimmed with apple-tree green velvet and chiffon, lilac silk lace with jet trimmings, blue cashmere with white silk trimmings and white organdie over pink with pink ribbons. The star of the evening was dressmaker Marcella Morgan as Martha Washington, pictured in the center.                                                                                          –Ann Havemeyer