Brief History of International Women's Day

International Women’s Day 2015

Celebrate women, help fight poverty

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present, and future.

A story about a conference in Copenhagen, a leader who didn’t keep his promise, and an International Women’s Day.

100 years ago, in 1910, a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A school teacher and suffrage named Clara Zetkin proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day – a Women’s Day – to press for their demands. The conference was made up of about 100 women from 17 countries, from political parties, working women’s clubs, legislators, Parlimentarians, and unions. They greeted this suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women’s Day was the result.

The very first International Women’s Day was launched the following year and took plan on the 19 March (yes, not 8 March). The date was chosen because on the 19^th March in the year of the 1848 revolution, the Prussian king recognized for the first time the strength of the people and gave way because of promises not fulfilled. Among the many promises he made but had failed to keep, was the introduction of votes for women.

Plans for the first International Women’s Day demonstration were spread mainly by word of mouth. Success of the first International Women’s Day in 1911 exceeded all expectations. Meetings were organized everywhere and even the villages halls were packed so full that male workers were asked to give up their places for women. Men stayed at home with their children for a change, and their wives, usually the captive housewives, went to meetings. The largest street demonstration had 30,000 women. And we all know what came later between 1910 and 1920.

A couple of years after the first one, International Women’s Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Women’s Day ever since. During International Women’s Year in 1975, the day was given official recognition by the United Nations and was taken up by many governments. International Women’s Day is marked by a national holiday in some countries, such as China, Armenia, Russia, Bulgaria, and Vietnam. International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present, and future.