05/25/2026
DID YOU KNOW???
🇺🇸Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day.
• By the late 1860s, many Americans had begun hosting tributes to the war's fallen soldiers by decorating their graves and with flowers and flags. Why did the name change from Decoration Day to Memorial Day? It seems that it gradually came to be known as Memorial Day over the years.
🇺🇸In 1966, Waterloo, New York, was officially declared the originator of Memorial Day.
• Many places in the U.S. claim to be the first to celebrate Memorial Day, but there's only one small town officially identified as the birthplace. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation stating that Waterloo, New York, is the originator of Memorial Day in the U.S. The town first observed a day to remember fallen soldiers on May 5, 1866.
