Celebrated during the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is meant to honor the patriotic activities of United States Soldiers. The day of remembrance honors the men and women who gave their lives defending the U.S. but there’s more to the tradition than you may realize.

Memorial day was original started only to honor the soldiers who fell during the countries Civil War, however as more wars broke out the holiday was extended to include the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, Vietnam, Desert Storm and our current wars in the Middle East.

The holiday became so popular that in 1971 the Federal Government declared it a national holiday and the practice soon came to remember loved ones who have passed away along with soldiers who have died protecting their country. Soon flags were placed on graves with flowers to remember our loved ones and parades were started to offer celebration.

Did you know that the “birthplace” of memorial day is considered to be Waterloo, N.Y.? It was on May 5, 1866 that the first rememberance day was initiated by residence fo Waterloo to celebrate the lives of the men and women who died during the Civil War. Businesses were closed and the practices of placing flowers and flags on graves of soliders was started. The city on that day also flew the flag at half-mast.

It was two years later when Major General John A. Logan officially declared May 30 a day of remembrance.

Northerners may also not be aware that during the last Monday in April a “Confederate Memorial Day” is witnessed by many to remember dead fallen confederate soldiers, however all soldiers in the United States are also recognized during National Memorial Day events.

Memorial Day will continue to include more soldiers from more wars and it’s important that we remember the efforts they made to keep our freedoms and lives safe from opposing forces.

Memorial Day Facts: How It Started, What It Means And Other Stuff You Should Know is a post from: The Inquisitr

There’s nothing more American on our most cherished holidays than throwing some burgers on the bbq with friends and family. We love to cook out during the Memorial Day heat and with our bbq’ing we love our side dishes. Today I present you with some of the Ultimate Potato Salad Recipes from the web.

The first recipe comes to us from Bruce Ownes at TMRZoo, his Ultimate Potato Salad features:

• 5 large potatoes peeled, chopped (pieces the size of your thumb) and cooked
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 bell pepper diced
• 3 stalks of chopped celery
• 1 tbls of fresh dill
• 2 tbls of chopped garlic
• 1 tsp of mustard
• 1 chopped dill picked spear
• ¼ cup of chopped scallions
• 1/3 cup of mayonnaise
• Boiled eggs and paprika for garnish.

You can find directions on his website (click the link on the site name above)

For a Quick and simple southern recipe one of my all time favorites (for ease of cooking) is found at AllRecipes and includes:

• 4 potatoes
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 stalk celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup sweet relish
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• salt and pepper to taste

If you want to go “American Classic” in celebration of the American holiday you can also try this About.com recipe:

Ultimate Potato Salad Recipes For Memorial Day is a post from: The Inquisitr

A group of children mindlessly reciting the Pledge of Allegiance… cute or creepy?

[Video] Creative Pledge via The Whitest Kids U’ Know is a post from: The Inquisitr

With heat reaching into the lower 90′s today across much of the Midwest much of the U.S is experiencing unseasonably warm weather for Memorial Day.

According to the National Weather Service if temperatures rise into the 90s as expected across much of the area it will only be the ninth time in the last 138 years that they have done so during Memorial Days.

In the Chicago land area the record of 93-degrees was reported in 1942 and 1953 with the last heatwave of 91 degrees in 2006.

For midwesterners looking for a little bit of relief, temps are expected to drop back into the 70s by nightfall.

The heat comes after non-stop rain in the region which caused 7.19 inches of rainfall in the region for the month of May, making it the fifth wettest month to date in Illinois alone.

Rain and heat, something I fully understand as a resident of Illinois.

Memorial Day Heat In the Midwest: Unseasonably Hot, Near Record Temperatures Expected is a post from: The Inquisitr

Facebook users are beginning to get excited for the holiday weekend, if their status updates are anything to go by.

Users of the social network have been chattering to a fever pitch about their weekend plans, anticipation about time off, social events and travel. AllFacebook, a site that tracks Facebook news and trends, linked to the chatter currently taking place on the site. The blog points out that while users are hot to chat about barbeques and parties, the number of mentions of the holiday’s true meaning is low:

Many people are asking each other what they have planned for the three-day weekend. They’re also sending invitations to barbeques and parties. Others are sharing details on Memorial Day weekend sales.

Only the occasional post addresses the fact that the holiday honors those who’ve died in military service. However, we expect that type of posting to become more prevalent on Memorial Day itself.

You can actually click here to like Memorial Day on Facebook. Are you using Facebook to coordinate your holiday plans? Is it your go to event planner these days?

Memorial Day Trending High Among Facebook Users Excited for Holiday Weekend is a post from: The Inquisitr

According to a study conducted by AAA, Memorial Day travelers do not plan on altering their schedules even with the cost of gas averaging $4.17 a gallon in the state of Illinois. On the contrary, AAA states that travel is actually expected to increase in Illinois this Memorial Day weekend.

This expected increase in traffic isn’t just limited to Illinois. In South Carolina, where the price of gas is the cheapest in the nation ($3.59 a gallon), more travelers are expected to hit the road as well on this Memorial Day weekend.

The lower gas prices are boosting hotel bookings, car rentals, and over all vacation travel planning all across the board, said Dave Parsons, chief executive AAA Carolinas.

“The declining gas prices will not only encourage more South Carolinians to fill up before traveling out-of-state but also make the state more attractive to visitors,” Parsons said in a statement.

Do the results of this survey line up with your own feelings on travel for this memorial day weekend?

Gas Prices Not Expected to Affect Memorial Day Travel is a post from: The Inquisitr

Those traveling or taking road trips won’t be as likely to spend the entire weekend stuck at a toll booth on I-95, as road work has mercifully been halted by the Delaware Department of Transportation.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation has also suspended road work on its side of the under construction toll plaza, which should ease, though not eliminate, some of the traffic. The area has been a trouble spot over past holiday weekends, and congestion has been severe enough to prompt toll waivers:

Officials say bottlenecks are still expected to form at Delaware’s toll booths where EZ-Pass lanes are under construction. The backups became so bad at Thanksgiving that officials stopped collecting tolls for a time to get traffic moving.

Traffic for Memorial Day weekend is expected to begin heating up today. NJ.com notes that Indian River Inlet Bridge in Sussex County, New Jersey will be restricted to one lane during the high-traffic holiday weekend.

[NJ.com]

Memorial Day Causes Halt to Construction on Delaware Memorial Bridge is a post from: The Inquisitr

Map the Fallen

Map the Fallen was started by a content developer with the Google Earth Outreach team. Using Google Earth, it allows users to sift through thousands of photos, then click on any to see how and where that person died, visit their memorial Web site, and peruse comments left by their family and friends.

Map the Fallen utilizes data from several sources, including the Department of Defense’s Statistical Information Analysis Division, icasualties.org, MilitaryTimes.com’s Honor the Fallen, Washington Post’s Faces of the Fallen, the Iraq and Afghanistan Pages, and Legacy.com. Its data goes all the way through March of this year.

“I recognize that this map is just a slice of the story in these conflicts,” its creator says. “The Iraqi and Afghani people have incurred substantial civilian losses through these wars; there are also U.S. and Coalition civilians, contractors, and reporters who have died as well.”

You can read more about the Map the Fallen project here and can download its software here. Note that you need to have Google Earth 5.0 installed for the program to work.

Map the Fallen: Honoring U.S. Troops Through Google Earth is a post from: The Inquisitr