Veterans Day

Veterans Day is a federal holiday set aside to honor veterans.  The day was originally know as Armistace Day.  World War I (The Great War) officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, but the fighting had stopped earlier.  An armistice between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of World War I.

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day.  The original concept for the celebration was for a holiday that was observed with parades and public meetings.  it was to be a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.” 

The original Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but after World War II Congress amended the original act.  On June 1, 1954, November 11th officially became a day to honor all the American veterans of all wars and that’s how it’s celebrated today.