For most of us, Labor Day is our last chance to enjoy a long summer weekend with our friends and family before the Fall school or work grind begins in earnest. It’s a great holiday, with a history nearly as long as the country itself.

In later years, the day came to be observed in honor of those who had died in all U.S. wars, and in 1967 its name officially changed from Decoration Day to Memorial Day. It is observed with the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, and by religious services, parades, and speeches nationwide.[3]