Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. From 1868 to 1970, it was observed on May 30. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials on Memorial Day to honor and mourn those who died while serving in the U.S. military. Many volunteers place American flags on the graves of military personnel in national cemeteries. Memorial Day is also considered the unofficial beginning of summer in the United States. The first national observance of Memorial Day occurred on May 30, 1868. Then known as Decoration Day, the holiday was proclaimed by Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic to honor the Union soldiers who had died in the Civil War. This national observance was preceded by many local ones between the end of the Civil War and Logan's declaration.

Remembrance Day at the Gettysburg Battlefield , an annual honoring of Civil War dead held near the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address .
A Great Jubilee Day , first held the last Monday in May 1783 (American Revolutionary War ).
Armistice Day , November 11, the original name of Veterans Day in the United States.
Confederate Memorial Day , observed on various dates in many states in the South in memory of those killed fighting for the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
Memorial Day massacre of 1937 , May 30, held to remember demonstrators shot by police in Chicago.
Nora Fontaine Davidson , credited with the first Memorial Day ceremony in Petersburg, Virginia.
Federal holidays in the United States
Observances honoring victims of war
Monday observances
Public holidays in the United States
Annual events in the United States
Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month)
May observances