On This Day, November 11: The 1918 Armistice Took Effect and Armistice Day Became Veterans Day in 1954
At 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, the armistice ending the fighting between the Allies and Germany in World War I took effect: the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day in 1919, and in 1938 November 11 became a federal holiday.
On November 11, 1921, the American unknown soldier was interred at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the law renaming Armistice Day as Veterans Day, honoring veterans of all wars. The observance was moved to a Monday in the 1970s before returning to November 11 in 1978.
In 2026 the day falls on a Wednesday. The National Veterans Day Ceremony takes place at 11 a.m. on November 11 at Arlington's Memorial Amphitheater, preceded at 10:30 a.m. by the Coast Guard Band and the Air Force Singing Sergeants and a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Veterans Day National Committee selected 48 regional sites across 24 states for officially recognized observances this year.
(Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs)
Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图片来源:Wikimedia Commons,SNik7Real,CC BY 4.0 / Image: Wikimedia Commons, SNik7Real, CC BY 4.0
