The World War I Armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918, and Armistice Day was celebrated in 1919 on the first anniversary of the end of the war. In 1926 the holiday was formalized and in 1938 it was named a national holiday. In an interview on KPCW’s Mountain Money, former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Donald Remy, said in 1954 President Eisenhower changed the name to what we celebrate today.