Here’s an interesting holiday that I just found out about today: “Confederate Memorial Day”
Usually on April 26th*, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and eight other U.S. states honor and remember the Confederate soldiers who died or wounded during the Civil War. If you’re in one of these states, you might get the day off work for this obscure holiday celebrated across the south.
In Georgia specically, it’s been an offiical holiday since 1874. According to GeorgiaInfo:
In 1874, the Georgia General Assembly approved legislation adding as a new public holiday “The 26th day of April in each year – commonly known as Memorial Day.” April 26 marks the anniversary of the end of the Civil War for Georgia, for it was on this day in 1865 that Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston’s surrender to General William T. Sherman at Durham Station, North Carolina became official. Johnston had been in charge of Georgia’s defense, so this day marked the end of the war for Georgia.
The 11 states that observe Confederate Memorial Day in alphabetical order: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Confederate Memorial Day is a state holiday in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia and falls on the fourth Monday in April. In Mississippi it is observed on the last Monday in April. In South Carolina and North Carolina it falls on May 10.
