What do you know about 1st May?

May Day can refer to different celebrations, but for most people May Day is synonymous with International Workers' Day or Labour Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of the *labour momement .

* Labour movement is a term used to refer to the development of a collective organization of working people to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and political governments. These organizations whose purpose is representing the interests or workers and the working class are nowdays known as Labour Unions or Trade Unions.

History:

International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886, when Chicago police fired on workers during a general strike for the eight- hour day, killing a dozen demonstrators. In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event in 1891.

Did you know that...?

It may seem strange to us nowadays that people had to fight for the eight-hour day, but during the Industrial Revolution ( end of 18th Century and 19th Century) in Britain the working day could range from 10 hours up to 16 hours for six days a week.

Women and children were granted the ten-hour day in 1847.

French workers won the twelve-hour day after the February revolution of 1848.

Labour Day around the world.

Although many countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1st, in the USA and Canada Labour Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September.

Nowadays, Labour Day (May Day) on May, 1st is a national holiday in Argentina, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Italy, Jordan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Lebanin, Malaysia, México, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and Vietnam.

Information taken from Wikipedia.