ON THIS DAY
On this date in 1620, 41 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored just off Massachusetts, signed a compact calling for "just and equal laws."
- Too bad it never made it to shore...
- Of course, the fine print said, "For us, not for them."
- It was part of the Occupy: The New World protest.
In 1889, Washington became a state. It's nickname is "The Evergreen State" because, frankly, moss and mold are green. State leaders thought, "What the heck! We'll already be getting Veterans' Day off!"
On this date in 1918, in the 11th month, the 11th hour of the 11th day, World War I officially came to an end. Thus, Veterans Day.
- And everyone was pretty sick of one's for a while after that.
- It gave the soldiers time to rest up before World War II.
In 1921, President Harding dedicated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He said it was perfect for him, because he was always bad with names.
On this date in 1997, Eastman Kodak announced it was cutting 10,000 jobs because of fierce competition from Japan's Fuji Photo Film Company. Yes, it was that recently in history that we had film wars.
On this date in 2001, Osama bin Laden was quoted as saying he would never allow himself to be captured. I have only one word to say: Gotcha!
It's Veterans Day. Thank you for your service. Banks, the post office and government offices are closed. Wall Street is open. Wouldn't hurt to put a flag out.
Rapper Lil' Dave turns 33 today. I'd never heard of him before. Probably because he's had Lil' success.
Leonardo DiCaprio turns 41 today and is pretty much king of his world.
- So far, his career has avoided all the icebergs.
- I don't know about you, but I was really surprised that he was even still around after going down with the Titanic.
Super Girl's boss, Calista Flockhart, turns 51 today. She's so darn skinny, it makes it tough for her to go out and celebrate her birthday on Veterans Day because everyone is always trying to run an American flag up her.
Demi Moore turns 53 today. She was quite the sex symbol in her younger years. Now, she's old enough to be the mom of Bruce Willis' current wife.
On Veterans Day, Americans honor all living military veterans, including the many working moms who are veterans of military service. Indeed, the 1.8 million female veterans are more likely to work full-time than their civilian counterparts. Here are some other Veterans Day facts you may not know.
- Veterans Day is always observed on November 11 with speeches and parades across the U.S. The holiday began as Armistice Day on November 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I.
- In 1926, Congress passed a resolution for an annual observance.
- In 1938, Nov. 11 became a national holiday.
- In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation changing the name to Veterans Day in order to honor veterans of all American wars.
- There were 23.2 million military veterans in the U.S. in 2008. Of those, 1.8 million were female, 2.3 million were black, 9.2 million were 65 and older and 1.9 million were younger than 35.
- A third of all living veterans served during the Vietnam War. In 2008, there were 7.8 million Vietnam-era veterans. (1964-1975) 5.2 million Gulf War veterans. Of these, 16% were women. (August 1990 to present)
- There were 2.6 million World War II veterans (1941-1945), 2.8 million veterans of the Korean War (1950-1953) and 50,000 veterans of both the Vietnam and Gulf War eras.
- 15.8 million veterans voted in the 2008 presidential election. That's 71% of all veterans, compared with 63% of non-veterans.
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