5 Facts You Should Know About Memorial Day

1. 57% of Americans will barbecue on Memorial Day. Did you know that an estimated 818 hot dogs are consumed per second on Memorial Day? 71 million hot dogs in a day...that's a lot of unknown meat in your mouth. 

2. Memorial Day began after the Civil War to honor the recently recalculated 750,000 casualties, which makes it the deadliest war in American history. It is followed by the 400,000 brave servicemen lost in World War II. 

3. Started in 2005, the Memorial Day Parade held in Washington D.C.  will attract an estimated 260,000 live spectators. It will also draw in over 150 million TV spectators. 

4. More than 37 million people will travel at least 50 miles from over the Memorial Day Weekend. Luckily, the gas prices will be the lowest they've been in over a decade. Now that's not an inconvenient truth. 

5. Red Poppies are a symbol of remembrance, making them the official Memorial Day flower. Bringing us to another interesting fact: Memorial Day was legally changed from it's original name Decoration Day in 1967.