History of Labor Day

HISTORY OF LABOR DAY

Labor Day is the day we celebrate the process our mothers went through in order to deliver us at birth. Sorry, wrong holiday.

Labor Day is the day we celebrate the achievements of the American labor movement. While it is still disputed whether the holiday was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire, the leader of the Brotherhood of Carpenters, or Matthew Maguire, a machinist -- observances of the holiday go back over a century.

The first Labor Day celebration was September 15, 1882 in New York City and was organized by the Central Labor Union. The legislature of New York first deliberated a bill to establishment a regular holiday, but Oregon was the first to pass it on February 21, 1887. It was first proposed as "a street parade to exhibit to the public the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations."

But it was on June 28, 1894 that Congress made the first Monday in September an official Labor Day holiday. In 1909 the Sunday preceding was designated as Labor Sunday, dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com/holidayhistory

History of the Holidays

Beginning this year's series on the history behind the holidays:

From now through the Spring or vernal equinox, most of the major secular and sacred holidays are celebrated. Many of the sacred holidays in our American "Judeo-Christian" heritage have secular associations, as many of the seemingly secular holidays actually have religious roots.

One example of the mixture of sacred and secular was that historically in ancient Rome the death and resurrection of Attis, the god of vegetation, was celebrated on March 24 and 25, corresponding to the vernal equinox. Sir James Frazer in The Golden Bough points out an interesting coincidence. Among certain Christians in places where the worship of Attis was known, the death of Jesus Christ was also celebrated on March 25, though there was little historical evidence supporting that date. A controversy is said to have raged between the pagan and Christian advocates, each claiming that they had prior claim.

Many Americans, even religious ones, are unaware of the history behind the holidays. If you are interested in Halloween, and how trick or treat became involved in it, you'll like this series on the history of the holidays. If you have ever wondered what the historical events are behind Chanukah, stay tuned. Was there a Christmas star, were there really three wise men, was there actually an historical Santa Claus, how about the Easter Bunny? Yes Virginia, this is for you. This offer not available in stores.


Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com/holidayhistory

Future of the Moon

FUTURE OF THE MOON

As a follow-up to my article commemorating landing on the moon in 1969, there is an interesting site here that shows what it will look like in the future:

In honor of the first manned Moon landing, which took place on July 20, 1969, we’ve added some NASA imagery to the Google Maps interface to help you pay your own visit to our celestial neighbor. Happy lunar surfing.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood futurist
www.billpetro.com