Labour Day

Labour Day (or Labor Day) is an annual holiday that resulted from efforts of the labor union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers.

This can be traced back to the Knights of Labor in the United States, and a parade organized by them at that time in 1882. In 1884 another parade was held, and the Knights passed resolutions to make this an annual event. Other labour organizations (and there were many), but notably the affiliates of the International Workingmen's Association who were seen as a hotbed of socialists and anarchists, favoured a May 1 holiday. With the event of Chicago's Haymarket riots in early May of 1886, president Grover Cleveland believed that a May 1 holiday could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots. He quickly moved in 1887 to support the position of the Knights of Labor and their date for Labor Day. The date was adopted in Canada in 1894 by the government of Prime Minister John Thompson

Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September in the United States and Canada since the 1880s. Many other countries celebrate Labor Day on May 1, a day that has been recognized in the United States since the 1930s as Loyalty Day.

In Australia, Labour Day is 1 October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In the Northern Territory it is called May Day but (unlike in most other countries with such a holiday) occurs on 7 May, not 1 May.

According to highway accident statistics, the Labor Day weekend is the most dangerous weekend of the year to travel on US highways. The reason is believed to be that it is the last long weekend before the schools start. Families with school age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer. The teenagers and young adults view it as the last weekend to get drunk before returning to school. Drunk driving and extra traffic both contribute to the high fatality over the weekend.

Details, history of the American Labor Day, and more about its purpose is needed.

Explanation of the difference between May Day and Labor Day, as well as the confusion between the origins of two separate holidays both known as "Labor Day", (one from knights of labor, one from socialist international) would also be nice