There are a lot of holidays today, chief among them, May Day.



Also...

• Ascension - Catholicism
• Beltane - Celts/Gaels
• Constitution Day - Latvia & the Marshall Islands
• Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker
• Festival of Bona Dea - Rome
• Kazakh Peoples' Unity Day - Kazakhstan
• Labor Day AKA Labour Day AKA Workers' Day - Worldwide
• Law Day - USA
• Lei Day - Hawaii
• Loyalty Day - USA
• Maharashtra Day (Maharashtra Divas) - Maharastra, India
• National Day of Prayer - USA
• National Love Day - Czech Republic
• Save the Rhino Day - USA
• Taco Truck Night - Los Angeles
• Virgen de Chapi - Peru

May Day celebrations are rooted in the ancient Celtic/Gaelic practice of Beltane and the Anglo-Saxon/ Germanic observances of Walpurgisnacht.  These include crowing the Queen of the May, Morris Dancing, the giving of May Baskets, getting drunk, and the erection of a Maypole.

September 3 is Labor Day. Everyone else in the world celebrates on May 1. In April of 1856, stonemasons in Melbourne protested in favor of the work day being reduced to 8 hours as suggested by the "8 hour movement" (8 for rest, 8 for work, 8 for leisure). Previously, working 16 hours per day, 6 days per week was perfectly normal.


On May 1, 1886 over 400,000 workers protested in favor of the adoption of the 8-hour-workday in the U.S.A. Government troops responded by opening fire, killing 7 in Milwaukee, followed by the Haymarket Riots in Chicago 3 days later. There, a cop was killed and at least 4 workers as well when violence flared up between cops, scabs and protestors. 8 activists associated with the rally were sentenced to death. One commited suicide in his cell and four others were hanged. In 1893 the 8 were pardoned. Of course, most had been dead for six years, so...


So, taking a page from the Christian Church, which successfully co-opted countless heathen holidays by re-branding them feast days and religious observations (e.g. Easter... in which a breeding rabbit carries eggs that symbolize... Jesus, and his, uh, hatching from the tomb-metaphorically speaking); Labor Day in the U.S.A. was moved to September.