Five Facts About Labor Day
As we roll into the last official weekend of Summer (where has this summer and YEAR gone?), we stop to commemorate the end of the Summer season with Labor Day. Gathering with friends and family around the grill, relaxation, and maybe even catching a baseball game are pretty common pasttimes in our workman’s holiday, but what do you know about Labor Day?
Yes, it began as a commemoration of the Labor Movement in the United States, but funny enough, the genesis of Labor Day originated in Toronto in 1872. America Didn’t pick it up until 10 years later, according to DoSomething:
- The first celebrated U.S. Labor Day was on Tuesday September 5, 1882 in NYC. It was planned by the Central Labor Union.
- Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day a holiday in 1887.
- Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the U.S.
- Americans worked 12-hour days and 7-day weeks (yikes!) in the late 1800s. Kids as young as 5-6 years old worked in factories.
- In 1916 the Adamson Act was passed, which firmly established the 8-hour workday. This was the first federal law regulating hours of workers in private companies.
Whatever you do this Labor Day, be safe & have a great time with your friends and family, and thank your lucky stars for the Adamson Act!
