Memorial Day 2022: Five facts You Need to Know About This American Holiday.

The holiday offers a chance to solemnly remember all those who gave their lives in service to our country.

1.  The federal holiday is observed on the last Monday of May - May 30, 2022, this year.  It was formerly observed on May 30 from 1868 to 1970.

Congress established an exact moment for remembrance on Memorial Day.

The National Moment of Remembrance Act, which was adopted in December 2000, encourages every citizen to pause each Memorial Day at 3 p.m. local time to remember the brave men and women who died in service to our nation.

2.  The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says that Memorial Day is celebrated in late May because that's when flowers are likely to be blooming across the country.

It was Union General John A. Logan who - after serving in the Mexican-American War and Civil War - proposed that Congress institute May 30 as Decoration day (the predecessor to Memorial Day) to allow citizens to decorate the graves of deceased veterans with fresh flowers.

3.  The Ironton-Lawrence Memorial Day Parade in Ironton, Ohio, is recognized as the oldest continuously running Memorial Day parade in the nation, beginning all the way back in 1868.

However, the oldest (and first) Memorial Day parade in the country was held a year earlier in Doylestown, PA.

4.  "Taps," the bugle call typically performed at military funerals as well as the annual Memorial Day wreath ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, was actually adapted from a separate Civil War bugle call known as "Scott Tattoo," which was used to signal lights out.

5.  For the first time in 20 years, the American Automobile Association (AAA) chose not to release a Memorial Day "travel Forecast" in 2020 due t the pandemic, which "undermined" the accuracy of the annual report, according to AAA.