Monday, September 7, 2009

Happy Labo(u)r Day

It's a shame we don't have Labor Day here in the UK. We do have 'Bank Holiday Monday', always the last weekend in August, but somehow that doesn't have the same ring. Labor Day is the perfect demarcation between summer and fall, vacation and school; the official signal that it's time to get your head down and work.

I was interested to see why the UK doesn't celebrate the holiday so I turned to my old faithful friend, Wikipedia. Surprisingly, Labor Day originated in Canada in 1872. An American later witnessed the annual event and decided to import it to his own country. The first American labor day was held in 1882; looks like the idea never caught on in England.

What can I say... all good ideas originate in Canada!

1 comment:

Criss L. Cox said...

Agreed... I should move there. :P