Veteran’s Day Facts

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Have you ever wondered when World War 1 ended and how Veterans’ Day actually began? Here are a few facts about them both.

World War 1 was actually known as “The Great War.” The war officially ended when some people signed the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. The fighting ceased seven months earlier in France. It actually went into effect the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Now November 11th, 1918 is known as “The War to End all Wars.”

France and the United Kingdom held a ceremony  for the unknown dead from the war on the second anniversary of Armistice Day ( that was the name for Veteran’s Day before it got changed.) In 1938 the congress passed a legislation to claim that Armistice Day on November 11th is a legal federal holiday. Because the states retained the right to have their own holiday the United States had no actual holiday. In 1954 President Eisenhower signed a document to change the name of their holiday to Veterans’ Day instead of Armistice Day. The fourth Monday is the new day that Veterans’ Day is held on since congress passed that Monday holiday law.

Between World War 2 and the Korean War millions of other Veterans’ were honored in addition to the ones getting honored from the first world war. In 1921 a tomb of the Unknown soldiers was put in Arlington National Cemetery after the congress passed a legislation approving the establishment. All through the 1920’s and the 1930’s most states made November 11th a legal and federal holiday. The federal government can only pass holidays for the federal employees and for the district of Columbia. The states followed the federal lead in passing holidays but it took some practice for the states to be able to do that.

Well did you learn any cool new facts about Veterans’ Day that you didn’t know? Well I sure did. Who knew Veterans’ Day could be so cool, right? I can’t wait to learn more about Veterans’ Day.