Did you know that in 1954, Congress renamed Decoration Day, calling it the holiday Memorial Day and eventually dubbed Waterloo its official birthplace?

Did you know that Decoration Day (Memorial Day) began in 1865?

 Did you know that Decoration Day was thought of in the mind of Henry Welles, a druggist in tiny Waterloo, N.Y., who wanted to honor the memory of those who died in the Civil War?

He found an ally in a friend and customer, Union Army Brig. Gen. John Murray. A year later, they led Waterloo in the first annual observance of a day honoring fallen soldiers. Flags were lowered to half-mast, and locals joined in a parade to three local cemeteries to pay their respects. Some argue that similar traditions had already seized grieving communities across the nation, especially in the war-torn South. 

Did you know that because of Maj. Gen. John Logan, a friend of Murray and the founder of an organization of Union veterans is largely why the credit today goes to Waterloo?

Did you know that Maj. Gen. John Logan in 1868, designated May 30 as the day to honor dead comrades—largely by scattering flower petals at their grave sites—and ordered local communities to join in Waterloo's celebration?

Did you know that President Ulysses S. Grant even presided over a ceremony in 1868  at Arlington National Cemetery , then know as Decoration Day?

Did you know that after World War I, Decoration Day came to include all fallen American soldiers?

Did you know that in 1954, Congress renamed Decoration Day, calling it the holiday Memorial Day and eventually dubbed Waterloo its official birthplace?

Did you know that through the decades, the date of May 30 remained fixed, But that changed in 1971 when Congress declared Memorial Day an official holiday and altered its observance to the last Monday in May?

 

Now if you didn't know, now you know...

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