Veterans Day, Remembrance Day and Armistice Day

Joseph Ambrose, an 86-year-old World War I veteran, attends the dedication day parade for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982. He is holding the flag that covered the casket of his son, who was killed in the Korean War. (Photo by Mickey Sanborn/U.S. Department of Defense via Wikimedia Commons)

Today is Veterans Day in the United States, Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, and Armistice Day in other countries.

Here are some things you may not have known about the holidays.

The date marks the anniversary of the end of World War I, and all of the holidays evolved from the original celebration of the armistice.

In countries where Remembrance Day is marked, it is a day to honor members of the armed forces who died in the line of duty. In this way, it’s similar to Memorial Day in the United States. It’s sometimes known as Poppy Day after the flowers worn to honor those who died. The poppies are symbolic of the blood spilled during the war — as noted in the poem “In Flanders Fields.”

In the United States, Veterans Day honors the service of all military veterans, living and dead. Veterans Day began in 1954 following a campaign by a World War II veteran to expand the scope of the holiday to include all veterans. Between 1971 and 1977, Veterans Day was celebrated on the fourth Monday of October as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. In 1978, it returned to November 11 and is a federal holiday.

It’s estimated that 21 percent of employers in the United States give their employees the day off. No mail is delivered and most banks are closed. If the holiday falls on a weekend, banks are generally closed on Friday the 10th, or Monday the 12th.

Our question: Veterans Day was originally Armistice Day, what was Memorial Day originally known as?

Today is Children’s Day in Croatia, Independence Day in Poland and Angola, and Women’s Day in Belgium.

It’s unofficially National Ice Cream Sundae Day and Origami Day.

It’s the birthday of General George S. Patton, who was born in 1885; writer Kurt Vonnegut, who was born in 1922; and comedian Jonathan Winters, who was born in 1925.

Because our topic happened before 1960, we’ll spin the wheel to pick a year at random.

This week in 1983, the top song in the U.S. was “All Night Long” by Lionel Richie.

The No. 1 movie was “Deal of the Century,” while the novel “Poland” by James Michener topped the New York Times Bestsellers list.