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Veterans Day is an annual American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 holiday honoring military veterans. Both a federal holiday
Federal holiday

In the United States, a federal holiday is a public holiday recognized by the Government of the United States. Non-essential federal government offices are closed....
 and a state holiday in all states, it is usually observed on November 11. However, if it occurs on a Sunday then the following Monday is designated for holiday leave, and if it occurs Saturday then either Saturday or Friday may be so designated. It is also celebrated as Armistice Day
Armistice Day

Armistice Day is the anniversary of the symbolic end of World War I on 11 November 1918. It commemorates the Armistice with Germany signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Rethondes, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front , which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning — the "eleventh hour...
 or Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day – is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the World War I....
 in other parts of the world, falling on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice
Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace....
 that ended World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
.






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Veterans Day is an annual American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 holiday honoring military veterans. Both a federal holiday
Federal holiday

In the United States, a federal holiday is a public holiday recognized by the Government of the United States. Non-essential federal government offices are closed....
 and a state holiday in all states, it is usually observed on November 11. However, if it occurs on a Sunday then the following Monday is designated for holiday leave, and if it occurs Saturday then either Saturday or Friday may be so designated. It is also celebrated as Armistice Day
Armistice Day

Armistice Day is the anniversary of the symbolic end of World War I on 11 November 1918. It commemorates the Armistice with Germany signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Rethondes, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front , which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning — the "eleventh hour...
 or Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day – is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the World War I....
 in other parts of the world, falling on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice
Armistice

An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace....
 that ended World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice
Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)

The armistice treaty between the Allies and German Empire was signed in a railway carriage in Compi?gne Forest on 11 November 1918, and marked the end of the World War I on the Western Front ....
.)

The holiday is commonly printed as Veteran's Day or Veterans' Day in calendars and advertisements. While these spellings are grammatically acceptable, the United States government has declared that the attributive (no apostrophe) rather than the possessive case
Possessive case

The possessive case of a language is a grammatical case used to indicate a relationship of Possession . It is not the same as the genitive case, which can express a wider range of relationships, though the two have similar meanings in many languages....
 is the official spelling.

History

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. A devout Presbyterianism and leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913....
 first proclaimed an Armistice Day for November 12, 1919. The United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution seven years later on June 4, 1926, requesting the President issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday; "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'."

In 1953, an Emporia, Kansas
Emporia, Kansas

Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, Kansas, United States. The population was 26,760 at the 2000 United States Census....
, shoe store owner named Al King had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who served in World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. King had been actively involved with the American War Dads during World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. He began a campaign to turn Armistice Day
Armistice Day

Armistice Day is the anniversary of the symbolic end of World War I on 11 November 1918. It commemorates the Armistice with Germany signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Rethondes, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front , which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning — the "eleventh hour...
 into "All" Veterans Day. The Emporia Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community....
 took up the cause after determining that 90% of Emporia merchants as well as the Board of Education supported closing their doors on November 11, 1953, to honor veterans. With the help of then-U.S. Rep. Ed Rees, also from Emporia, a bill for the holiday was pushed through Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954.

Congress amended this act on November 8, 1954, replacing "Armistice" with Veterans, and it has been known as Veterans Day since.

Although originally scheduled for celebration on November 11 of every year, starting in 1971 in accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act
Uniform Monday Holiday Act

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act is an Act of Congress that amended the federal holiday provisions of the United States Code to establish the observance of certain holidays on Mondays....
, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. In 1978 it was moved back to its original celebration on November 11 (with the exceptions described above).

See also

  • Anzac Day
    ANZAC Day

    Anzac Day is a national public holiday in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Battle of Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I....
  • Armistice Day
    Armistice Day

    Armistice Day is the anniversary of the symbolic end of World War I on 11 November 1918. It commemorates the Armistice with Germany signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Rethondes, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front , which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning — the "eleventh hour...
  • Remembrance Day
    Remembrance Day

    Remembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day – is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the World War I....
  • Volkstrauertag
    Volkstrauertag

    Volkstrauertag is a public holiday in Germany. It is observed two Sundays before the first of Advent, and commemorates those who died in war and the victims of violent oppression....


External links

  • United States Department of Veterans Affairs
  • at Cornell University's on-line United States Code