Five on Friday: Memorial Day Facts

This is a cross post from my other blog here. Come visit!

Just for fun, here are five things you might not have known about Memorial Day, to be celebrated this year on Monday, May 28th.

1.) The first Memorial Day was in 1865 and honored those who died in the Civil War. It was originally called Decoration Day, because people decorated soldiers’ grave sites with flags and flowers. Later, the name was changed to Memorial Day to remember all Americans who died in any wars or conflicts.

2.) In 1971, Memorial Day was officially moved from May 30th to the last Monday in May, a practice that also took place with other holidays in order to create a three-day weekend. Some people disapproved and thought it defeated the purpose of remembrance and undermined its meaning. Some of the most common Memorial Day activities include:

• Parades
• Picnics and Cookouts
• Road Trips
• Camping

3.) A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00pm local time, thanks to the National Moment of Remembrance resolution, passed in 2000.

4.) Memorial Day Weekend is notorious for huge summer movie openings. This year, the hype is surrounding Men in Black 3. Go see it and tell us what you think!

5.) 7 BILLION?!?! That’s how many hot dogs Americans will eat this between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

When did eating hot dogs become a sign of our patriotism? Confession: I do feed my kid organic chicken hot dogs. Beyond that, I don’t want (or need) to know much about them.

All kidding aside–

Regardless of your political/religious/philosophical leanings, this holiday weekend is a great opportunity to reflect on the privileges and comforts afforded to us by the individuals who have fought for our freedoms and who continue to serve their country.

If you want to share some photos of the service members in your life, check out Lynn’s post here.

(Sources: aarp.org, wkrq.com)