Labor Day / Labour Day / International Workers’ Day

Labor Day / Labour Day / International Workers’ Day / May Day is observed as a national public holiday in more than 80 countries worldwide. It commemorates the 1884 demand by the American Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions for an eight-hour workday to come in effect as of 1 May 1886. This resulted in a general strike and the Haymarket Riot (in Chicago) of 1886, but eventually led to official sanction of the eight-hour workday.