Here we mark the price of freedom May 25, 2020

Here we mark the price of freedom

Today the United States marks Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor those members of the US armed forces who have died while serving their country. While it was celebrated independently by various towns across the country in the aftermath of the Civil War, Union General John A. Logan was the first to call for a national day of remembrance on May 30, 1868. Originally called Decoration Day, it was a day set aside for the public to offer prayers and honors for those lost to battle and to decorate their graves with flags and flowers. On the first national Decoration Day, over 5,000 widows, orphans, and other mourners attended a ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery, and placed flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers interred there. Originally only a commemoration of those soldiers killed in the Civil War, by the end of WWI it had come to be a holiday honoring all American war casualties from the Revolutionary War onward.

© John Roush II/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

May 25, 2018Cheers! It’s National Wine Day
May 25, 2019Traveling warblers
May 25, 2021An improbable tribute for Towel Day
May 25, 2022The Alhambra in Granada, Spain
May 25, 2023Saksun, Faroe Islands, Denmark
May 25, 2024Aït Benhaddou, Morocco
May 25, 2025Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Aug 17, 2018Illuminations on the Gulf of Poets
Aug 5, 2024Lavender field, Hertfordshire, England
Mar 13, 2019A look at Uranus, seventh planet from the sun
May 19, 2024Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy
Jun 11, 2018A Great view from above
Dec 9, 2023National Llama Day
Apr 27, 2022Midnight sun
Feb 29, 2024Leap day
Oct 1, 2021What s better than a smile?
Dec 18, 2019It’s Weihnachtsmarkt time!
Apr 20, 2022Mute swans
Nov 7, 2024Vancouver Coastal Sea wolves, Great Bear Rainforest, Canada
Jul 25, 2021Illuminated Uluru
Nov 26, 2020Happy Thanksgiving from an expert face-stuffer
Feb 24, 2023Mandarin duck, Richmond Park, London, England
Mar 2, 2019You won’t see this on Mulberry Street
May 12, 2020Nursing the world to health
Apr 27, 2019Aloe in bloom
Sep 7, 2023Camels in the desert, United Arab Emirates
Jan 14, 2022Road to Sa Calobra, Majorca, Spain
Sep 17, 2021Eye of the cave
May 23, 2018Everybody loves World Turtle Day
Jan 28, 2018Winter scenery near Kuhmo, Finland
Feb 7, 2025Blue hour in Trondheim, Norway
Feb 27, 2018A polar bear near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
Jun 2, 2019An island for the birds
Jul 8, 2019Make your way up a picturesque passageway of Chefchaouen
Apr 15, 2022World Art Day
Feb 3, 2018Rooftops in the walled city of Urbino, Italy
Apr 12, 2022International Day of Human Space Flight