May 1 is International Workers Day, celebrated by labor groups all across the world.  It was designated as a day to recognize workers by the Second International, an organization of socialist and labor parties, in 1889.  Although (or perhaps because?) May 1 originally commemorated the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886, the United States celebrates Labor Day on the first Monday of September.

Needless to say, May 1 was an important holiday in the Soviet Union.  It continues to be a public holiday in Lithuania.  Germany, New Zealand and the Scandinavian countries, among others, also have a public holiday on May 1.  This year, we are lucky that it falls on a Friday, giving the workers of these countries at least a three-day weekend.  I, however, will be working on Friday — at home, of course, since the archives will be closed.  Given the current economic crisis, maybe I’ll re-read Marx’s critique of the capitalist system!