Today is Veterans Day. Nov. 11 used to be called Armistice Day
because it was on this date in 1918 that an armistice to end
World War I was signed in a railroad car in Compiegne, just
outside of Paris. But the armistice that was signed that day
would prove to make the numbers 11-11-11 unintentionally
infamous for all time. News of the ceasefire spread quickly by
telegraph to all parts of the world. Italian opera singer Enrico
Caruso got up early in New York City to celebrate and sang the
American national anthem in English from his hotel balcony.
Citizens in Windsor Locks ran along Main Street shouting,
clanging pots and pans, and then burned Kaiser Wilhelm in
effigy. Similar acts of celebration occurred throughout the
country. But the celebration was premature. The war had not
really ended; it had about six hours to go, as the ceasefire was
to begin at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month —
11-11-11. The Allied signers of the armistice thought it would
be more memorable if the peace began at 11. Little