Tuesday, November 11, 2008

This Day In History: Armistice Day

In the United States, from 1926 up until 1954, November 11 was known as "Armistice Day" (from 1919 until 1926 the day had been celebrated on November 12 instead). This day honored the veterans of World War I and celebrated the end of the "Great War", which officially occurred on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918.

The treaty ending the war was signed between Germany and the Allies in a railway carriage in France's Compiègne Forest. Following Nazi Germany's defeat of France in 1940, in a symbolic move, Adolph Hitler chose the same carriage in which to sign the treaty between the two nations.

In May of 1954 President Eisenhower officially rededicated Armistice Day to honor the veterans of all wars. In November of 1954 Congress renamed the holiday "Veterans Day".

1 comment:

  1. You keep changing your header...I think I liked the mushroom cloud the best, though this one, with the meter is pretty funny too.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails