Taking off Travel blog

Happy Labor Day! As you enjoy the last day of the long weekend, here are some fun facts about the occasion we are celebrating.

Labor Day New York 1882

1. The first observance of Labor Day in the US is believed to have been on September 5, 1882.
2. According to some, it was organized by Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary Peter J. McGuire.
3. Some believe that Matthew Maguire actually suggested the observance.
4. Labor Day was designated a federal holiday in 1894, by which time more than 50% of the states were already marking the occasion.
5. There are more than 155 million people over 16 in the nation’s workforce.
6. More than 3 million people spent more than an hour and a half commuting to work in 2010 (and let’s not forget they had to go back, too!)
7. The average commute is more reasonable: 25.3 minutes.
8. 2010 median earnings for full time workers: $36,931 for women and $47,715 for men.
9. Labor Day is celebrated on the same day in Canada.
10. Canadian Labor Day started in 1872 as a demonstration for workers’ rights in Toronto.
11. In Canada, Labor Day became a legal holiday (the first Monday in September) in 1874.
12. In America in the 1800s, many workers used to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.
13. The Adamson Act of 1916 set up the 8 hour workday.
14. Many countries around the world celebrate workers on May Day or International Workers Day on May 1.
15. The now traditional Labor Day parade was suggested in the original proposal of the holiday.
16. Labor Day also marks the unofficial end of summer, the start of school and the beginning of the football season in the US.

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Tags: labor day, labor day 2012, travel, us holidays, us observances

This entry was posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2012 at 12:01 am and is filed under travel, US holidays and observances. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.