May 1 is International Workers' Day and is also known as Labour Day in some countries. It is a celebration of laborers and the working classes created in 1889 by the Marxist International Socialist Congress when they convened in Paris and set on May 1 to commemorate the previous year's Haymarket Affair.

Held in Chicago, the Haymarket Affair began on May 1 when workers held a strike for an eight-hour workdayChicago, U.S. On the 4th, police broke up an aseembly when a bomb was thrown at them, resulting in the police to shoot at the assembled workers. Seven police and at least four civilians were killed while sixty officers and one hundred and fifteen civilians were injured. The next day, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the state militia fired on strikers, killing seven, including a man feeding his chickens at home and a schoolboy. Afterwards, hundreds of labor leaders and sympathizers were arrested and four executed after a trial considered to be a miscarriage of justice.

Today, most countries in the world hold Labour Day on May 1, although the U.S. and Canada celebrate it in September. May 1 is the Roman Catholic feast day for Saint Joseph the Worker, patron saint of workers and craftsmen.

More Information

International Workers' Day (Wikipedia)
International Workers' Day (Days of the Year)

See also

• May (month)