As we pause for Memorial Day on Monday, May 27, 2019, here are a few fun facts and trivia about Memorial Day.

  1. Memorial Day was first called “Decoration Day” because of the practice of decorating soldier’s graves with flowers.
  2. General John Alexander Logan ordered the Memorial Day holiday to be observed by decorating the war dead.
  3. It is customary for the President or Vice President to give a speech on Memorial Day. And traditionally, that speech is delivered at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
  4. On Memorial Day, the flag should be at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff.
  5. Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, the 3rd U.S. Infantry also place American flags in front of Arlington’s over 260,000 graves and niches
  6. Red Poppies are recognized as the Memorial Day flower.
  7. New York was the 1st state to officially recognize Memorial Day.
  8. The south refused to honor the dead on Memorial Day until after World War I when the meaning of Memorial Day changed from honoring civil war dead to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war.
  9. Memorial Day was declared a federal holiday in 1971.
  10. On Memorial Day, the flag should be at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

  • The Brooklyn Bridge opened in New York.
  • Major League Baseball held its first night game in 1935.
  • John Hancock became President of Congress in 1775.
  • Bob Dylan was born in 1941.