First observed on 20 May 1950, Armed Forces Day was
created on 31 August 1949 as President Harry S. Truman
led the effort to establish a single holiday for citizens to
come together and thank military members for their
patriotic service in support of the republic and national
interests and as a undeniable fact of American life.

President Harry S. Truman attending the Armed Forces Day Parade in 1952.

James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849)  Polk 
was the 11th president of the United States, serving from
1845 to 1849.

On May 13, 1846, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor
of President James K. Polk’s request to declare war on Mexico in
a dispute over Texas.

Under the threat of war, the United States had refrained from
annexing Texas after the latter won independence from Mexico
in 1836. But in 1844, President John Tyler restarted negotiations
with the Republic of Texas, culminating with a Annexation Treaty.

The treaty was defeated by a wide margin in the Senate because it
would upset the slave state/free state balance between North and
South and risked war with Mexico, which had broken off relations
with the United States. But shortly before leaving office and with
the support of President-elect Polk, Tyler managed to get the joint resolution passed on March 1, 1845. Texas was admitted to the
Union on December 29.

(February 22–23, 1847)

On this day in history, May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson
(above) issued a proclamation for Americans to show a public expression of reverence to mothers through the celebration of
Mother’s Day.

"Proclamation 1268 – Mother’s Day" stated, in part, "Whereas,
by a Joint Resolution approved May 8, 1914, designating the
second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, and for other purposes,
the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation
calling upon the government officials to display the United
States flag on all government buildings," according to The
American Presidency Project of the University of California
Santa Barbara.

The proclamation continued, "And the people of the United
States [can] display the flag at their homes or other suitable
places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression
of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country."

Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis
(September 30, 1832 – May 9, 1905)

The first unofficial Mother’s Day observances
were organized by West Virginia resident Anna
Jarvis and held in Grafton, West Virginia, and
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 10, 1908,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

ROSS SIMPSON

Elvis Presley (The King of Rock and Roll) married Priscilla Beaulieu at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on
May 1, 1967.

On April 30, 1939, the New York World’s Fair opened in New
York City. The opening ceremony, which featured speeches
by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (below) and New York
Governor Herbert Lehman, ushered in the first day of
television broadcasting by RCA in New York.

 A TV camera (right) at the New York World’s Fair.