Veterans Day is celebrated annually on November 11 (Credit: maricopa.edu)

As we celebrate the 91st anniversary of Veterans Day, we thought it would be interesting to investigate the origins of this holiday and, the reason it is always celebrated on November 11th.

Veterans are people who served in the United States Military and are now retired from active duty. These include the men and women in the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and the Coast Guard.

Originally dubbed Armistice Day, it was first declared a holiday in 1938, to commemorate the end of World War 1, which happened at 11.am on 11/11/1918. Since then, the holiday, which is dedicated to the cause of 'World Peace' and honored the veterans of the First World War, has always been celebrated on November 11th.

In 1954, after the US had been involved in two other wars, World War II and the Korean War, the holiday was renamed Veterans Day, in honor of the veterans of all the wars.

Veterans Day celebrates all living veterans (Credit: Defense. Gov)

There is some confusion between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The main difference is that Veterans Day is celebrated to thank and honor all living veterans who served in the military, whether in peace or war. Memorial Day is a day for remembering and honoring all the men and women who died serving the country in a war. While several other countries celebrate this day in honor of their own veterans, the celebration is slightly different in each country.

Some, like the United Kingdom, celebrate it in honor of all soldiers, living or dead, while others, like Canada, celebrate it in honor of all living veterans. They also call it different names. France and New Zealand still call it Armistice Day. In The United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, it is dubbed Remembrance Day and in Malta and South Africait is called Poppy Day.

Whatever the name, we remain grateful and salute to the brave men and women all over the world, who sacrifice so much and help us in war and peace.

source:wikipedia, history.com