International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8th March. On the final Sunday of February, women in Russia once more decided to protest and strike for “Bread and Peace” amid the conflict (which fell on March 8 on the Gregorian calendar). Four days later, the Czar resigned, and the interim administration gave women the right to vote.
IWD wasn’t observed on a specific day at first, but it was typically observed in late February or early March. While Russia commemorated International Women’s Day for the first time in 1913 on the last Saturday in February, Americans continued to observe “National Women’s Day” on the last Sunday in February (albeit based on the Julian calendar, as in the Gregorian calendar, the date was March 8).
The Socialist Party of America staged the first known celebration of Women’s Day on February 28, 1909, in New York City under the name “National Woman’s Day,” at the idea of activist Theresa Malkiel. There have been allegations that the day honors a demonstration by female garment workers that took place on March 8, 1857, in New York.
