Memorial Day

As in the UK, yesterday was a bank holiday Monday here in the US as well - although not to recognise Whitsun but as the US Memorial Day. Formerly known as Decoration Day, this is a federal holiday (that means it's recognised by the US government unlike, say, the Confederate Memorial Day mentioned earlier) to commemorate U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. Whilst it first began to honour the Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War, it has subsequently expanded to include those who died in any war or military action. Interestingly, a long-standing tradition is the running of the Indianapolis 500 (Indy 500) which has run in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911.

The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. The village was credited with being the birthplace because it observed the day on May 5, 1866. From then, General John A. Logan - impressed with the way the South honoured their dead - decided a similar holiday for the Union and, in 1868, issued a proclamation that 'Decaration Day' be observed nationwide (it was on May 30th of that year). Unsurprisingly, some states in the South refused to recognise it - given that it honoured their opposition and this remained that way for some time - even as late as after World War 1. Interestingly, the official name, whilst first used in 1882, wasn't made official until 1968 - when Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved four holidays from their traditional dates to specified Mondays. Although some of these have subsequently changed since, Memorial Day still remains as the last Monday of May and, as you've probably realised, isn't celebrated anywhere out of the US.