Showing posts with label War to end all wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label War to end all wars. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Armistice Day

In 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, a treaty was signed to end World War I, know as "The Great War" and as "the war to end all wars." On the one year anniversary of the treaty, November 11, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the day as the first commemoration of Armistice Day.

On June 4, 1926, Congress passed a concurrent resolution, recognized this date as a day to be remembered annually. It became a legal holiday on May 13, 1938 with the passing of the Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a). This day was set aside as a day to honor the veterans who fought in World War I. After World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd Congress (with the encouragment of veterans service organizations) amended the Act by replacing Armistice with the word Veterans. It was approved on June 1, 1954, and November 11th became Veterans Day.

On October 8, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" (19 Fed. Reg. 6545 (October 12, 1954).

For more information on this important day, visit the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs' History of Veterans Day site.

Sonnet Erin Brown
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Earth & Environmental Sciences, Engineering, Urban Studies