"International Women's Day." International Women's Day. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

i woke up today and read a tweet about a local county having to close their schools due to almost 1,700 hundred of their teachers/transportation staff took the day off of work for international women's day and day without a woman. international women's day first started out in the 1900's to celebrate the social, economic, and political achievements of women from all over the globe, but has grown tremendously. day without a woman began for the first time today in response to the millions who stood in january's march and to stand "solidarity with the international women's strike organizers".
from campaigning for better pay and voting rights to being popularly celebrated all over the globe and inspiring millions of people from all walks of life--including myself!--as i said before, international women's day has grown tremendously in the last few years.

but, just like you, i didn't know much about the day either. of course i knew the fundamentals, i wanted to know more. so below i've listed eight things you should about international women's day!

1) first NWD (national women's day) was held on february 28, 1909 
after a declaration from the socialist party of america, the first actual march was in 1909 and was celebrated the last sunday of february until 1913.

2) the first IWD (international women's day) was held on march 19, 1911
when the decision was made in copenhagen, iwd was first celebrated in austria, denmark, germany, and switzerland.

3) it was originally called international working women's day
held in new york, almost 15,000 union members and immigrants marched through the streets demanding social and political rights.

4) declared a national holiday by the soviet union in 1917 
IWD was declared a national holiday in the soviet union and was actively celebrated by the socialist and communist countries.

5) united nations adopted the day in 1977 
the UN adopted IDW in 1977, and ever since 1996 have picked the theme. this year's theme in be bold for change. 

6) what's the day for?
from the UN “a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. It is an occasion for looking back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women.”

7) there are ten IWD core values
- justice
- dignity
- hope
- equality
- collaboration
- tenacity
- appreciation
- respect
- empathy 
- forgiveness

8) the united states dedicated the entire month of march as "women's history month"

one thing i want to leave you with, is this: 

History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

"they used to give us a day-it was called international women's day. in 1975 they gave us a year, the year of the woman. then from 1975 to 1985 they gave us a decade, the decade of the woman. I said at the time, who knows, if we behave they may let us into the whole thing. well, we didn't behave and here we are." --bella abzug "battling bella" 

hope you enjoyed this, and hopefully you learned something you didn't know!!!

xoxo,
l.k