11th Hour, of the 11th Day , of the 11th Month.poppy wreath

Armistice & Veterans Day is commemorated, especially in Europe and North America, in rememberance of the ending of the First World War. 11am on November 11th was the date chosen to end formal hostilities. The day is now used to remember all those who have lost their lives during war times. Although not a public holiday in Europe, a one-minute silence is observed at 11am. The nearest Sunday to the 11th traditionally is Remembrance Sunday when town officials place wreaths of poppies on their town’s memorials.

In Poland, 11th November is a national holiday and, besides Remembrance Day, it celebrates Polish Independence Day. In the USA, if Veterans’ Day happens to fall on a Sunday, then the following Monday is declared a public holiday. This is considered to be one of the most important holidays in America. Comemorated in Italy on 4th November.

Read more about USA Veterans Day
Read more about Polish Independence Day

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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 11th, 2012 at 9:38 am and is filed under Australasia, days of significance, Europe, General, North America, other interesting stuff, social practices . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “ Armistice & Veterans Day: 11th November ”

  1. James says:

    Finally someone who gets it! Thanks for the informative info!

  2. Thanks for posting this, lifted my day.