International Workers’ Day 2018: Facts, Quotes To Celebrate May Day

May 1 is also known as May Day or International Workers’ Day, which celebrates workers from all fields of life and is observed as a national holiday in most countries.

This year, Google dedicated a doodle to commemorate May Day, which showcased tools of various trades — from hardhats and shovels to mixing bowls, books and laboratory beakers.

Here are some interesting facts about International Workers’ Day.

May Day wasn’t always International Workers’ Day

In the ancient days, May Day was celebrated as the Beltane festival, by the Celts in the British isle, and symbolized transition every year from dark to light and fertility in the world. It was traditionally celebrated by villagers with bonfires and rituals to protect crops and cattle, along with a big feast, Newsweek reported.

Second International, a coalition of socialist and Marxist parties and labor groups founded in Paris, proposed the idea of using the day to recognize workers’ rights during the Industrial Revolution when thousands of working men, women and even children died annually due to harsh conditions and inhuman working hours.

Labor Day in the U.S.

Contrary to the rest of the world, the United States and Canada traditionally celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday in September every year. Oregon became the first state to recognize Labor Day as an official public holiday in 1887. In 1896, former President Grover Cleveland declared it an official national holiday, Time reported.

Unusual celebrations

Every year on May Day, a Latin hymn or carol is sung from the top of Magdalen College tower in Oxford, England, and is followed by the ringing of bells to signal the start of Morris dancing (performed by groups of men dressed in colorful clothes) in the streets.

Students of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland rush naked into the sea at sunrise on 1 May out of enthusiasm for the change of season on this day, Independent reported.

Here are some inspirational quotes to celebrate May Day from Brainy Quote:

“Each year, Labor Day gives us an opportunity to recognize the invaluable contributions that working men and women make to our nation, our economy and our collective prosperity. It gives us a chance to show gratitude for workers' grit, dedication, ingenuity and strength, which define our nation's character.” – Thomas E. Perez

“As we celebrate Labor Day, we honor the men and women who fought tirelessly for workers' rights, which are so critical to our strong and successful labor force.” – Elizabeth Esty

“The sole and basic source of our strength is the solidarity of workers, peasants and the intelligentsia, the solidarity of the nation, the solidarity of people who seek to live in dignity, truth, and in harmony with their conscience.” – Lech Walesa

“The best workers, like the happiest livers, look upon their work as a kind of game: the harder they play the more enjoyable it becomes.” – Robert Baden-Powell

“We can afford to pay workers fairly, and it is the right thing to do. We also need equal pay for equal work.” – Jan Schakowsky

“We know that freedom has many dimensions. It is the right of the man who tills the land to own the land; the right of the workers to join together to seek better conditions of labor; the right of businessmen to use ingenuity and foresight to produce and distribute without arbitrary interference in a truly competitive economy.” – Robert Kennedy.