International Workers' Day is a celebration of the international labour movement that occurs on May Day, May 1st, a traditional Spring holiday in much of Europe. May 1st is a national holiday in more than 80 countries, and celebrated unofficially in many other countries. In some countries the public holiday is officially Labor Day while in others the public holiday marks the traditional Spring festival known as May Day. Other countries, such as the United States celebrate Labour Days on another date, usually with special significance to the labour movement in that country.
In 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle, following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International's second congress in 1891.
