May day

10 fact about may day

we all hear about the may day but why we celebrate the may day? Who started may day? What's are the important facts of the may day? Let's know about these facts - 

To know more about these read this article carefully and shere to your friends. 

WHO STARTED MAY DAY? 

On May 1, 1886, more than 300,000 workers in 13,000 businesses across the United Stateswalked off their jobs in the first May Day celebration in history. In Chicago, the epicenter for the 8-hour day agitators, 40,000 went out on strike with the anarchists in the forefront of the public's eye.

International Labour Day is a celebration in the honour of labourers and the working classes. It takes place every year on May 1, which also matches with the Celtic spring festival.

The day is also commonly known around the globe as May Day and is an official public holiday for many countries like People's Republic of China, North Korea, Cuba, and Russia. 

Google Doodle is honouring the day today with a purple-coloured doodle that has little details like rubber gloves, stethoscope, safety helmets, batteries, nuts and bolts, painting roll-ons, wires, glasses to light torches.

Why Labour Day is important

• A movement mobilised by the labour union at the time of rise in industrialization is where the Labour Day has its origins

• Industrialists exploited the labour class by making them work for up to 15 hours a day

• Finally, the union took the courage to unite and raise their voice on May Day (first day of the month) against the unfair treatment, and demanded paid leaves, proper wages and breaks for the workforce

• This the movement that is particularly known as the eight-hour day movement, as it supported eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest

• The day has long been a crucial point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist and anarchist groups too

• During the Cold War between 1947 to 1953, the Labour Day became an intermittent event for large military parades and was attended by top leaders. It became an enduring symbol of that period. Till date, countries that signify the May Day as an official holiday feature elaborate popular and military parades on the day

SOME INPORTANT FACT ABOUT MAY DAY:

Maypole Dance

Another popular tradition of May Day involves the maypole. While the exact origins of the maypole remain unknown, the annual traditions surrounding it can be traced back to medieval times, and some are still celebrated today.

Villagers would enter the woods to find a maypole that was set up for the day in small towns (or sometimes permanently in larger cities). The day’s festivities involved merriment, as people would dance around the pole clad with colorful streamers and ribbons.

Historians believe the first maypole dance originated as part of a fertility ritual, where the pole symbolized male fertility and baskets and wreaths symbolized female fertility.

The maypole never really took root in America, where May Day celebrations were discouraged by the Puritans. But other forms of celebrations did find their way to the New World.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, May Basket Day was celebrated across the country, where baskets were created with flowers, candies and other treats and hung on the doors of friends, neighbors and loved ones on May 1.

Did you know? What does May Day have to do with the international distress call, "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday"? Nothing, as it turns out. The code was invented in 1923 by an airport radio officer in London. Challenged to come up with a word that would be easily understood by pilots and ground staff in case of an emergency, Frederick Mockford coined the word "mayday" because it sounded like "m'aider," a shortened version of the French term for " come and help me."

International Workers’ Day

The connection between May Day and labor rights began in the United States. During the 19th century, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, thousands of men, women and children were dying every year from poor working conditions and long hours.

In an attempt to end these inhumane conditions, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (which would later become the American Federation of Labor, or AFL) held a convention in Chicago in 1884. The FOTLU proclaimed “eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s labor from and after May 1, 1886.”

The following year the Knights of Labor – then America’s largest labor organization – backed the proclamation as both groups encouraged workers to strike and demonstrate.

On May 1, 1886, more than 300,000 workers (40,000 in Chicago alone) from 13,000 business walked out of their jobs across the country. In the following days, more workers joined and the number of strikers grew to almost 100,000.

Haymarket Riot

Overall, the protests were peaceful, but that all changed on May 3 where Chicago police and workers clashed at the McCormick Reaper Works. The next day a rally was planned at Haymarket Square to protest the killing and wounding of several workers by the police.

The speaker, August Spies, was winding down when a group of officers arrived to disperse the crowd. As the police advanced, an individual who was never identified threw a bomb into their ranks. Chaos ensued, and at least seven police officers and eight civilians died as a result of the violence that day.

The Haymarket Riot set off a national wave of repression. In August 1886, eight men labeled as anarchists were convicted in a sensational and controversial trial despite there being no solid evidence linking the defendants to the bombing. The jury was considered to be biased, with ties to big business.

Seven of the convicted men received a death sentence, and the eighth was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In the end, four of the men were hanged, one committed suicide and the remaining three were pardoned six years later.

A few years after the Haymarket Riot and subsequent trials shocked the world, a newly formed coalition of socialist and labor parties in Europe called for a demonstration to honor the “Haymarket Martyrs.” In 1890, over 300,000 people protested at a May Day rally in London.

The workers’ history of May 1 was eventually embraced by many governments worldwide, not just those with socialist or communist influences.

May Day Today 

Today, May Day is an official holiday in 66 countries and unofficially celebrated in many more, but ironically it is rarely recognized in the country where it began, the United States of America.

After the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Clevelandofficially moved the U.S. celebration of Labor Day to the first Monday in September, intentionally severing ties with the international worker’s celebration for fear that it would built support for communism and other radical causes.

Dwight D. Eisenhower tried to reinvent May Day in 1958, further distancing the memories of the Haymarket Riot, by declaring May 1 to be “Law Day,” celebrating the place of law in the creation of the United States.

May Day in India

• The first celebration of the day in India was organised in Madras (now Chennai) by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan on May 1, 1923

• This was also the time when the Red Flag (the day's symbol used since its foundation) was first used in India

• In addition, it should be noted that May 1, apart from being Labour Day, is also marked as 'Maharashtra Day' and 'Gujarat Day' to mark the date in 1960 -- when the two western states attained statehood after the erstwhile Bombay state was divided on linguistic lines

• This May Day, it is also important to know that child labour in India is prohibited under the Child Labour Act of 1986, which bars employing people below 14 years. The Act was directed towards achieving better labour standards and to ensure no abuse or maltreatment of children by industries and industrialists.

SUMMERY:

Facts About the May Day Celebrations

The first day of May is known as “May Day”, and is a time to celebrate the coming of Summer. Some of the traditional English celebrations include Morris Dancing, crowning of a May Queen, and of course, dancing around a Maypole!

Of course, everyone knows this, but here’s a small collection of interesting facts about May Day that you may not have known this morning.

The Pagan name for May Day is Beltane, which means “Day of fire”, which marks the coming of summer and fertility.

Every year thousands of single men and women dance around a Maypole, holding on to ribbons until they become entwined with their new loves!

In 1644, Members of Parliament banned all festivities on May Day.

Unlike Easter and Christmas, May Day is the one festival of the year which has no significant church service. – Not too surprising really, considering it’s a Pagan festival!

In previous centuries people would often take the day of work to celebrate May Day, often without the support of their employer.

The USA and Canada do not recognise May Day!

Throughout the world, May Day is recognised