Today in history 5-30

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1868
May 30
Civil War dead honored on Decoration Day, now known as Memorial Day

By proclamation of Major General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Union Army veterans group, the first widespread Decoration Day is held to honor those who died "in defense of their country during the late rebellion." Logan's declaration lays the groundwork for what would become the federal holiday of Memorial Day.

On May 30, 1868, mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. This practice inspired the observance's name. Also that day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants help to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried there.

The first Decoration Day celebration was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three years since the end of the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois.

In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—because the town had made the observance an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

By the late 19th century, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day, as Decoration Day was increasingly becoming known. States, especially in the North, declared it a state holiday. After World War I, observers began to honor the dead of all of America's wars, not just fallen Civil War soldiers as outlined by Logan's 1868 proclamation. Memorial Day eventually became a nationwide tradition, but it wasn't until 1971 that Congress declared Memorial Day a federal holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May, instead of May 30.

Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. It is customary for the president or vice president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. More than 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually. Some Southern states set aside a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day.