It is Remembrance day.🙏
Today we take a moment to honor the members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty.
It is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War.
Also known as Poppy (Papaver somniferum) Day, because of the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy which became official to the American Legion in 1920.
However, the Poppy and its association with war casualties date back even further, when during the 19th century following the Napoleonic wars, red poppies grew where the bodies of soldiers lay when prior the land was destroyed and desolate.
Then again during WWI, the heavily churned soil from the explosions provided enough stimulation to germinate dormant poppy seeds (which can remain dormant for up to 80yrs!) and so Poppies grew among the graves of soldiers; giving rise to this infamous poem written by John Mccrae in 1915.
