On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 (11:00 AM, November 11), the Armistice of Compiègne took effect, ending four devastating years of combat on the Western Front of the First World War. First inaugurated by King George V in 1919 as Armistice Day, the observance became Remembrance Day across the British Commonwealth, France (Jour d'Armistice), Belgium, and allied nations. Inspired by Canadian physician Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae's 1915 poem 'In Flanders Fields', the scarlet corn poppy became the universal symbol of sacrifice and enduring memory. Every year, millions observe two minutes of absolute silence at 11:00 AM as church bells chime and wreaths are laid at the Cenotaph in London, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and war memorials across the globe.
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 (11:00 AM, November 11), the Armistice of Compiègne took effect, ending four devastating years of combat on the Western Front of the First World War. First inaugurated by King George V in 1919 as Armistice Day, the observance became Remembrance Day across the British Commonwealth, France (Jour d'Armistice), Belgium, and allied nations. Inspired by Canadian physician Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae's 1915 poem 'In Flanders Fields', the scarlet corn poppy became the universal symbol of sacrifice and enduring memory. Every year, millions observe two minutes of absolute silence at 11:00 AM as church bells chime and wreaths are laid at the Cenotaph in London, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and war memorials across the globe.
