Since 45 B.C., leap years have been used to reconcile calendars with the actual time it takes for the earth to circle the sun. It takes the earth 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds to revolve around the sun, not 365 days. If left uncorrected, calendar dates and important events, such as the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and the solstices, will slowly shift until they don’t match their prescribed calendar dates. After a century, our calendar would be off by about 24 days.

President’s Day has been a federal holiday since 1879 when it was instituted to memorialize the birthday of George Washington, born on February 22, 1732. By the 1970’s, the holiday had evolved to commemorate all US Presidents.

In the 1920s, a historian for the state of South Dakota came up with the idea of creating a massive sculpture that featured heroes of the American West to increase tourism in the area.

For more than 50 years, Berntsen has worked alongside federal agencies to provide useful and quality products. From monuments that can be set in wetlands to RFID markers that integrate with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), federal agencies rely on Berntsen to deliver quality products that help them fulfill their missions.