Happy International Workers' Day! The legs of the revolution are spreading over the world
In around 150 countries, International Workers' Day is celebrated on May 1, except in the US when it's the first Monday in September, and called Labor Day. "May Day" was chosen to commemorate the Haymarket affair, a labor strike and riot which began May 1, 1886 in Chicago. May 1 is also the traditional date of Beltane, a pre-Christian European holiday exactly six months from Samhain (better known as Hallowe'en) on October 31. Just as Samhain marked the beginning of winter, when animals were brought indoors, Beltane marked the beginning of summer when they were let outside again. An important ritual on Beltane was the lighting of fires, usually on hilltops, kindled with wood after all household fires had been put out. These fires were then relit from the Beltane fire. This tradition continues to this day in parts of the UK and Ireland.
May Day has nothing to do with "mayday," which pilots would shout as their airplanes were crashing. That comes from the French "m'aidez" (pronounced "mayday"), meaning "help me" (French used to be the lingua franca of aviation).
Labor Day in the US was first proposed in the early 1880s, a few years before the Haymarket affair, so it's not like the Americans decided to celebrate workers on a different day just to be contrary. It's unlikely that the date will be changed to May 1 as International Workers' Day has a Communist tinge. Also, just as Memorial Day on the last Monday in May marks the beginning of the summer tourist season, Labor Day in September marks its end. In fact, the limits on the hours minors can work under federal law are higher in the summer, and officially designated as allowed between "June 1 and Labor Day" as most kids are out of school roughly between those dates. So the US will continue to celebrate its workers on a different day than the rest of the world.
May Day has nothing to do with "mayday," which pilots would shout as their airplanes were crashing. That comes from the French "m'aidez" (pronounced "mayday"), meaning "help me" (French used to be the lingua franca of aviation).
Labor Day in the US was first proposed in the early 1880s, a few years before the Haymarket affair, so it's not like the Americans decided to celebrate workers on a different day just to be contrary. It's unlikely that the date will be changed to May 1 as International Workers' Day has a Communist tinge. Also, just as Memorial Day on the last Monday in May marks the beginning of the summer tourist season, Labor Day in September marks its end. In fact, the limits on the hours minors can work under federal law are higher in the summer, and officially designated as allowed between "June 1 and Labor Day" as most kids are out of school roughly between those dates. So the US will continue to celebrate its workers on a different day than the rest of the world.
