Memorial Day, observed on the last Monday of May, honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. Military. Memorial Day 2022 is Monday May 30.
Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, it marks the beginning of the summer season. The date of the first Decoration Day was chosen because it wasn't the anniversary of any particular battle.
The Civil War, which ended in the spring of 1865, claimed more lives than any conflict in the U.S. history and required the establishment of the country's first national cemeteries.
By the late 1860's, Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.
Some records show that one of the earliest Memorial Day commemorations was organized by a group of formerly enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865.
This information is from the History Channel