MUNDANE MYSTERIES: The Difference Between Veterans Day & Memorial Day
Do you know the real difference between Memorial Day & Veterans Day? The Department of Veterans Affairs encountered enough confusion that they dedicated an entire section on their website to explain the difference between the two similar, though very different, holidays.
Memorial Day & Veterans Day are observed about 6 months apart: Veterans Day every November 11th, Memorial Day on the last Monday of May. Both are meant to recognize the brave individuals who’ve militarily served our country. So, what’s the difference between the two?
Veterans Day, originally known as Armistice Day, was first observed on November 11, 1919, the 1-year anniversary World War I’s end. In 1926, Congress made it an annual observance, before making it a national holiday in 1938. Then, in 1954, President Eisenhower changed the holiday’s name to Veterans Day to recognize veterans of both World Wars. Today, Veterans Day celebrates all military veterans, living or dead, who’ve served our country, with an emphasis placed on thanking military members in our own lives.
Memorial Day is also a celebration of military veterans, but it has a more solemn mood in that it honors those who’ve died in service to our country. When it was first observed after the Civil War, local communities would adorn the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers during what was first called Decoration Day. Originally held on May 30th, since that date wasn’t the anniversary for any particular battle & all soldiers could be honored, Memorial Day shifted after World War I from remembering only Civil War fallen to honoring all those who’ve perished throughout all of America’s conflicts. Memorial Day, as we now know it, was declared a federal holiday in 1971 & moved to the last Monday in May to facilitate a 3-day weekend.
The easiest way to think of the two holidays: Veterans Day is a time to shake the hand of a veteran who stood up for our freedom; Memorial Day is a time to remember & honor those no longer here to receive our gratitude in person.
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Wake Up Crew Highlights: November 11, 2021
MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Are Liquors Called “Spirits”?
Ever wondered, while sitting at a bar or enjoying an adult beverage at home, why liquors are called “spirits”? I mean, sure…the way people act after a few shots of vodka may make it seem like they’ve been possessed by a ghost or demon. But is that the reason some refer to gin, tequila, whiskey, and more as “spirits”?
There’s one theory that surrounds alcohol’s association with a very specific spirit: the Holy Spirit. In most Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit is the third member of the Holy Trinity, alongside God & Jesus. The theory refers to certain places in the Bible where the effects of the Holy Spirit were mistakenly labeled as being brought on by an over-indulgence of alcohol. For instance, in the New Testament, Jesus’s disciples were said to have been “filled with the Holy Spirit” during Pentecost before eventually “speaking in tongues” (i.e., “other languages than their native tongues”). Not understanding the significance of what was really going on, bystanders simply laughed off the strange behavior as merely being a symptom of the disciples having drunk too much wine.
A more likely explanation, however, centers on the etymology of the word “alcohol”, itself. “Alcohol” is believed to have been derived from one of two old Arabic words. “Al-ghawl” literally means “spirit”, and is even mentioned in the Qur’an as a spirit or demon that gives wine its intoxicating effects. The other potential root word is “al-koh’l”, which is was a type of eyeliner made from a black powdery mineral called stibnite. The way stibnite would be transformed into eventual makeup was very similar to how liquids would get distilled, so “al-koh’l” very likely could’ve gotten co-opted to mean anything that was “distilled”.
When the word “alcohol” eventually first showed up in the English language, back in the 1500s, it was used to describe the spirit, or essence, of something distilled from some other ingredient, as in “the alcohol of wine.” So, it’s not really surprising that before long people just began calling those spirits “spirits”. Makes sense, right? Cuts right to the “chaser”. (See what I did there?)
Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected].
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