Over two dozen cities and towns claim the honor of having originated Memorial Day, but in May 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed Waterloo, NY to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. A drugstore owner, Henry Welles, decided in 1866 that there should be a day to honor the Waterloo soldiers who had been killed in the Civil War. All shops were closed on May 5, as the citizens of Waterloo placed wreaths, crosses and flowers on the graves of the Civil War soldiers in the cemetery there.

Many places in the South began decorating the graves of their soldiers before the Civil War ended. Impressed by this, General John A. Logan decided the holiday should be observed nationwide and proclaimed May 30 as Decoration Day across the United States.

The holiday was originally known as Decoration Day, because of the practice of decorating the graves of soldiers. Although in 1882 some began calling it Memorial Day. the name was not officially changed by law until 1967.

The next year, Congress passed a bill, moving Memorial Day, along with three other holidays, from their traditional dates to the closest Monday, to create a long weekend. Memorial Day was changed from May 30 to the last Monday in May.

Each year, small flags are placed on the more than 160,000 graves at Arlington National Cemetery.

Since it began to commemorate the Civil War soldiers, Memorial Day is an American holiday. However, some other countries remember their war dead on Remembrance Day, which is November 11.

The Memorial Day weekend has come to mean the beginning of summer, and is celebrated with picnics and travel. The Indianapolis 500 is run on this weekend, too.