For 100 years, the nation has recognized the achievements and contributions of Black Americans, and their place in American history during February. In 1926, Carter G. Woodson, who founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASALH), established the first Negro History Week, aligning it with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, to highlight African American contributions to society. President Gerald Ford expanded Negro History Week to Black History Month in 1976, officially recognizing the significance of African American history and culture. Since the mid-1970s, U.S. presidents have issued proclamations supporting ASALH's themes.

The Black History Month theme for 2026 is "A Century of Black History Commemorations," marking 100 years since the first Negro History Week in 1926, focusing on the historical efforts to study and celebrate Black life and culture, and celebrating African American contributions to labor, also emerging.” 

Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran from Birmingham, Alabama, had the idea in 1945 of a national holiday that would honor all war veterans, living and dead, to be celebrated on Armistice Day. Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day.

Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a United States federal holiday observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with holidays in several countries, including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which also occur on the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.