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On November 11, 2015, Americans celebrate Veterans Day, a legal holiday set aside to honor all the men and women who have served in the armed forces of the United States throughout history.
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What Was Veterans Day Called Originally?
Until 1954, the holiday we know as Veterans Day was celebrated as Armistice Day, marking the end of fighting during World War I. Although the Treaty of Versailles, officially ending the war, was not signed until June 28, 1919, hostilities between the Allies and Germany had ended with an armistice that took effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. Although Armistice Day was unofficially observed as a holiday beginning shortly after the end of World War I, Congress in 1926 passed a resolution urging the public to display the flag and otherwise mark the date. Twelve years later in 1938, Congress enacted legislation making Armistice Day a legal holiday.
Closely associated with Veterans Day and its Armistice Day precursor is the poppy, a symbol for all the blood shed by Allied soldiers during World War I.
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Is the Holiday Observed Outside the U.S.?
November 11 continues to be observed as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other Allied countries. In France it is a legal holiday officially known as Armistice de la premiere guerre mondiale (Armistice of the First World War), while in the United Kingdom and throughout much of the British Commonwealth, the holiday is known as Remembrance Day. In the U.K. and Commonwealth nations, the holiday is also known as Poppy Day, so named for the blood-red poppies that came to be a symbol for all the blood shed on the battlefields of the First World War.
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Was There a Time When Veterans Day Was Celebrated on Mondays?
Signed into law on June 28, 1968, and taking effect on January 1, 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act took a handful of national holidays with fixed dates and moved them to designated Mondays. The idea behind the legislation was the creation of several three-day weekends for federal employees. Covered under the law were Washington's Birthday, moved from February 22 to the third Monday in February; Memorial Day, moved from May 30 to the last Monday in May; Columbus Day, moved from October 12 to the second Monday in October; and Veterans Day, moved from November 11 to the fourth Monday in October. So closely was Veterans Day tied to its Armistice Day roots and the date of November 11 that legislators ultimately saw the folly of their ways and moved Veterans Day back to its original fixed date.
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How Is the Holiday Observed at Arlington National Cemetery?
Arlington's observance of Veterans Day begins promptly at 11 a.m. on November 11 with a wreath-laying ceremony at the cemetery's Tomb of the Unknowns. This is followed by additional ceremonies and speeches at the Memorial Amphitheatre, which lies only steps from the Tomb of the Unknowns?
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🇺🇸
What Was Veterans Day Called Originally?
Until 1954, the holiday we know as Veterans Day was celebrated as Armistice Day, marking the end of fighting during World War I. Although the Treaty of Versailles, officially ending the war, was not signed until June 28, 1919, hostilities between the Allies and Germany had ended with an armistice that took effect at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. Although Armistice Day was unofficially observed as a holiday beginning shortly after the end of World War I, Congress in 1926 passed a resolution urging the public to display the flag and otherwise mark the date. Twelve years later in 1938, Congress enacted legislation making Armistice Day a legal holiday.
Closely associated with Veterans Day and its Armistice Day precursor is the poppy, a symbol for all the blood shed by Allied soldiers during World War I.
🇺🇸
Is the Holiday Observed Outside the U.S.?
November 11 continues to be observed as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other Allied countries. In France it is a legal holiday officially known as Armistice de la premiere guerre mondiale (Armistice of the First World War), while in the United Kingdom and throughout much of the British Commonwealth, the holiday is known as Remembrance Day. In the U.K. and Commonwealth nations, the holiday is also known as Poppy Day, so named for the blood-red poppies that came to be a symbol for all the blood shed on the battlefields of the First World War.
🇺🇸
Was There a Time When Veterans Day Was Celebrated on Mondays?
Signed into law on June 28, 1968, and taking effect on January 1, 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act took a handful of national holidays with fixed dates and moved them to designated Mondays. The idea behind the legislation was the creation of several three-day weekends for federal employees. Covered under the law were Washington's Birthday, moved from February 22 to the third Monday in February; Memorial Day, moved from May 30 to the last Monday in May; Columbus Day, moved from October 12 to the second Monday in October; and Veterans Day, moved from November 11 to the fourth Monday in October. So closely was Veterans Day tied to its Armistice Day roots and the date of November 11 that legislators ultimately saw the folly of their ways and moved Veterans Day back to its original fixed date.
🇺🇸
How Is the Holiday Observed at Arlington National Cemetery?
Arlington's observance of Veterans Day begins promptly at 11 a.m. on November 11 with a wreath-laying ceremony at the cemetery's Tomb of the Unknowns. This is followed by additional ceremonies and speeches at the Memorial Amphitheatre, which lies only steps from the Tomb of the Unknowns?
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