The Calendar
May's Desktops
Just as we could have rode into the sunset, along came the Internet, and it tripled the significance of the PC.
Andy Grove
Everyone loves May Day, but what the hell is it?
May Day or the 1st of May refers to several holidays of a different nature. The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian Europe, similar to the other celebrations of pagan origin such as the Celtic Beltane or the Germanic Eostre. Now the pagan origins of the holiday have faded after the Christianisation of Europe and the move to a more secular version of the holiday. It is this form which May Day is best recognized for its tradition of dancing round the Maypole & the Crowning of the Queen of May.
Whatever the religion behind it, May Day was a celebration of summer or the official end of Winter. May Day also refers to various socialist and labour movement days, unrelated to any religious celebrations but also to commemorate the Haymarket martyrs of 1886. The Haymarket martyrs were arrested and then executed after the culmination of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago, Illinois at the beginning of May, that year. Consequently this May Day became established as an anarchist and socialist holiday but later became an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the working class and labour movements. It is perhaps ironic that the country from which this form of May Day was conceived is now perhaps the least recognised.
May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and anarchist groups. Often, bonfires are lit in commemoration of the Haymarket martyrs, traditionally at the very outset of May. It has however seen right-wing massacres of participants as in the Taksim Square massacre of 1977 in Turkey.
May Day is an important official holiday in Communist countries such as the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and the former Soviet Union, due to its status as a celebration of the efforts of workers and the socialist movement. May Day celebrations will typically feature elaborate popular and military parades in these countries.
In countries other than the United States and Canada, resident working classes fought hard to make May Day an official holiday, efforts which largely succeeded. For this reason, in most of the world today, May Day is marked by massive street rallies led by workers, their trade unions, anarchists and various socialist and communist parties.
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