Interesting Facts About Memorial Day
Jonathon Andrews
1. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. This is because soldiers used to decorate the graves of their fallen comrades with flags or flowers.
2. This holiday was created after the Civil War ended in 1865. So many soldiers lost their lives, it was necessary to create national cemeteries. Once these were created, Americans started holding rituals each spring for the fallen by decorating their graves.
3. Memorial Day is always at the end of May because by this time all the flowers are starting to bloom. Originally Memorial Day took place on May 30 each year.
4. Although, Memorial Day wasn’t a federal holiday until 1968 as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. This made Memorial Day to be last Monday of the month.
5. Originally Memorial Day was only commemorated the life of the soldiers that died in the Civil War, but after the first World War the holiday expanded to honor all soldiers who lost their lives.
6. Some southern states celebrate Confederate Memorial Day, honoring the fallen soldiers of the Confederacy.
7. CBS launched an investigation to uncover an Unknown Soldier’s identity from Arlington National Cemetery. Due to the investigation the remains were removed from the tomb and a DNA test was run. It identified the Unknown Soldier who gave his life in the Vietnam War as Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie. After he was identified his remains were moved to a cemetery near his hometown in St. Louis, Missouri.
8. The National Moment of Remembrance Act adopted a specific time to pause in remembrance on Memorial Day. Everyone is encouraged to give a moment of silence at 3PM on Memorial Day in honor of the fallen soldiers.
9. Aside from being a holiday in celebrating fallen soldiers, Memorial Day is known for being the unofficial start of summer and sales from countless retailers.
10. Memorial Day isn’t always a day of peace. The Memorial Day Massacre took place in Chicago on May 30, 1937. Workers at the Republic Steel Mill who were on strike were stopped by Chicago police officers. Ten protesters died and about ninety people were injured by police batons, tear gas and bullets. During Memorial Day Weekend of 2019, 43 people were injured by gunshot wounds in Chicago’s West Side.
11. The significance of red poppies on Memorial Day is traced back to a Canadian poem written about World War I. Moina Michael was inspired by the poem, “In Flanders Fields”, the opening lines state “In Flanders Field the poppies blow/Between the crosses row by row”. She donned a red poppy because of the imagery and now this is a big tradition in the United Kingdom.
Wanna know more? Check out our sources below!
https://explorethearchive.com/history-of-memorial-day
https://time.com/110697/memorial-day-facts/
https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/memorial-day-2022-facts-american-holiday
