Get Your Labor Day Knowledge On
Everyone knows Labor Day means a three-day weekend. It also is the unofficial end of summer. Vacations are over, people go back to school, and the weather starts to get colder. But most people don’t know the history of the American holiday. I didn’t. I had to Google it and do some research to write this article. Here are some bullet point facts you drop at your BBQ today.
Always the first Monday in September
The holiday celebrates the workers who contribute to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. (Basically, if you have a job, today’s for you!)
The first unofficial Labor Day was celebrated in New York in 1882.
The first state to recognize the holiday was Oregon in 1887.
It became a national holiday in 1894
There is beef between who original founded Labor Day: Peter J. McGuire (carpenter) or Matthew Maguire (machinist)
Source: US Department of Labor
