November 11 became a federal holiday in the United States in 1938 as Armistice Day. In 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice was declared between the Allied nations & Germany in World War 1. The next year, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration to honor the World War 1 soldiers in the United States.