Today is Labor Day in much of the world. The holiday may also be known as International Worker’s Day or May Day and is marked with a public holiday in over 80 countries.
The first May Day celebrations focused on workers took place on May 1st 1890 after its proclamation by the first international congress of socialist parties in Europe on July 14th 1889 in Paris, France, to dedicate May 1st every year as the “Workers Day of International Unity and Solidarity.”
The date was chosen due to events on the other side of the Atlantic. In 1884 the American Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions demanded an eight-hour workday, to come in effect as of May 1st 1886. This resulted in the general strike and the Haymarket (in Chicago) Riot of 1886, but eventually also in the official sanction of the eight-hour workday.
In the 20th century, the holiday received the official endorsement of the Soviet Union, and it is also celebrated as the Day of the International Solidarity of Workers, especially in some Communist states. Curiously (given the origin of the May 1st date), the United States celebrates Labor Day on the first Monday of September. There is some suggestion that the reason for this was to avoid the commemoration of riots that had occurred in 1886. The adoption of May Day by communists and socialists as their primary holiday has been as another reason for the official resistance to May Day labor celebrations in America.
May 1st was also a pagan holiday in many parts of Europe, Its roots as a holiday stretch back to the Gaelic Beltane. It was considered the last day of winter when the beginning of summer was celebrated.
During Roman times, May 1st was seen as a key period to celebrate fertility and the arrival of spring. The Roman festival of Flora, the goddess of flowers and the season of spring, was held between April 28th and May 3rd.
Traditional English May Day rites and celebrations include Morris dancing, crowning a May Queen, and dancing around a Maypole; festivities which made it a popular seasonal celebration in medieval England.
fortuitous…
We don’t need no math in our schools…
Congratulations to Canada on their election!
These are kind of punny…
Today is the birthday, in 1966, of merican bassist Johnny Colt with The Black Crowes who had the 1991 hit single ‘Hard To Handle’ and the 1992 US No.1 & UK No.2 album The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion. The band have sold more than 30 million albums. Colt also played with Lynyrd Skynyrd. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRcs_OzQb14
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