In 1866, in a town in New York called Waterloo, a drugstore owner named Henry Welles suggested that the town shops close on May 5 to commemorate the soldiers buried at Waterloo Cemetery who had died during the Civil War. Two years later in Waterloo, on May 5, 1868, General John Logan issued a declaration that Decoration Day should be observed nationwide. The declaration said that May 30th would be designated as a day to decorate the graves of "comrades who died in defense of their country." According to History.com, President James Garfield gave a speech at Arlington National Cemetery on that day. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson and the Congress of the United States stated that Waterloo was the official birthplace of Memorial Day, and the official date of origin was May 30, 1868. In 1882, the name of the holiday was changed from Decoration Day to Memorial Day. After World War I, the holiday was expanded to remember soldiers from all American Wars. In 1971, Richard Nixon made Memorial Day a national holiday that was to be celebrated on the last Monday in May. 

 

Photo ( Waterloo 1866) courtesy of waterloony.com.