Today is International Workers' Day, commemorated every May 1st, around the world. While May Day had its origins in the United States, the U.S. is one of only a few countries that does not celebrate the day.

Havana, Cuba.- In 1889, the International Socialist Congress met in Paris and established the Second International as a successor to the earlier International Workingmen's Association. They adopted a resolution for a "great international demonstration" in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day.

The date of May 1st was chosen by the American Federation of Labor to commemorate a general strike in the United States, which had begun on May 1, 1886, and culminated in the Haymarket Massacre - in which labor union activists in Chicago were killed in the struggle for the eight-hour movement - eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest. (RHC)