November 11, or veteran's day, is a day of remembering our fallen soldiers and celebrating our veterans as a nation, with parades, ceremonies, meals, and other events. Here are 11 facts about American's most important holiday you probably did not know.

Interesting facts about Veteran's you probably did not know

1. Veteran's Day was originally called "Armistice Day," to celebrate the end of WWI.

2. Raymond Weeks, a WWII veteran, rallied to have Armistice Day expanded to include all veterans, not just the fallen soldiers, in 1945. In 1954, Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation to change the name to "Veteran's Day" to include all of America's veterans.

3. The very first Veterans Day parade was not held until 1947 in Birmingham, Alabama, and was led by Weeks.

4. In 1982, President Reagan honored Weeks with the Presidental Citizenship Medal and recognized him as the driving force for the national holiday.

5. Congress moved Veteran's Day to the fourth Monday in October in 1968, to allow government employees to have a long weekend, but President Ford changed it back to November 11 in 1975, because of the historical significance of the date.

6. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are over 22 million war veterans living in the United States today.

7. Irving Berlin wrote "God Bless America" in 1918, but it did not become widely popular until it was played on the radio during an Armistice Day radio special on November 10th, 1938.

Kate Smith performed the song, and all of the proceeds went to the Boy's and Girl's Scouts of America.

8. The Poppy is the official flower of Veteran's Day. The symbol comes from a poem by John McCrae called, “In Flanders Fields," which includes the line,“In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses row on row.” In 1918, the poem inspired a Georgia native named, Moina Belle Michael, to wear red poppies in honor of America's veterans.

9. The Department of Veteran's Affairs adopted a line from President Abraham Lincoln as their official motto. The line is, "To care for him who shall have borne the battle," and it comes from Lincoln's second inaugural address.

America is not the only country to celebrate Veteran's Day

10. Other countries like Britain, France, Australia, and Canada also celebrate WWI and WWII veterans near November 11.

11. The Commonwealth countries have two minutes of silence every November 11 at exactly 11 a.m. to honor WWI and WWII veterans. This developed from the first anniversary of the end of World War I when all services were suspended for two minutes, starting at 11 am
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED