Today is the International Women's Day!

'S prazdnikom vosmogo marta!', or 'Zi svyatom vosmogo bereznya!'  This would be a greeting today in Russia or Ukraine (can't speak for other countries all over the world..). It literally means 'Happy 8th of March celebration'! This is an International Women's Day, which is similar to the Mother's Day celebration in the U.S. in May, however all women/girls get to celebrate, not only Moms! Also, in Ukraine you would get a day off of work today. How about that??

This holiday has been observed since the early 1900s, when "women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights."


Another excerpt from www.internationalwomensday.com :
"In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result."


By the way, Google just reminded me that it's a 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day! So let's raise a glass for all women in the world, working or not :)