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For many kids, Veterans Day just another day to play with friends and have fun and not go to school. Do you know why you didn’t have to go to school? Wednesday marked the day in which we honor America’s past and present soldiers. Veterans Day started back in 1919 when President Woodrow Wilson named November 11 Armistice Day in honor of the truce that ended World War I.

Nations around the world also honored on this day, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I fighting at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918. Armistice Day officially received its name in America in 1926 through a Congressional resolution. It became a national holidiay 12 years later in 1938. The word armistice means “a temporary suspension of hostilities by agreement between the opponents”. But only a few years after the holiday was proclaimed, war broke out in Europe as the start of World War II began. In 1954 President Eisenhower signed a bill proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day instead of Armistice Day.