Welcome to the start of a wonderful three-day weekend.

We hope you enjoy days full of sun and fun, spend some time with family and maybe eat something that’s been cooked on an outdoor grill. While you’re doing all of that, however, we hope you’ll take at least a moment to remember why we’ve all got the day off on the last Monday in May.

What we call Memorial Day began as Decoration Day in 1868 as a way to remember the recent dead from the American Civil War, which ended in 1865. That conflict cost the lives of nearly 500,000 Americans.

At that time, the day was commemorated May 30. The date was chosen, at least in part, because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle in the Civil War. Residents were asked to spend the day decorating the graves of Civil War soldiers – from the Union and Confederacy – with flowers. In the years since, of course, the day has expanded to include all soldiers who gave their lives defending our country. It’s also changed names, slowly becoming Memorial Day through the decades, and took up its place on the last Monday in May, officially becoming a federal holiday in 1971.

Read more at the Greeley Tribune