New Year's Day

The custom of celebrating the New Year first appeared in ancient Mesopotamia. Babylon celebrated the New Year on the day of the vernal equinox, a time when nature woke up from its winter sleep. 

The New Year was celebrated with masquerades, carnivals and processions for 12 days from the end of March, when the water of the Tigris and Euphrates flows and farming begins. 

The New Year, as we know it, originated in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians celebrated the September flood of the Nile, which marked the beginning of the new sowing season and was a very important event. Even back then it was customary to hold nighttime celebrations with dancing and music, and to give each other gifts.

International Women's Day

The history of International Women's Day begins with the "march of the empty pots" which was staged by New York textile workers on 8 March 1857. They demanded higher wages, better working conditions and equal rights for women. 

In 1910, Women's Day was again marked by women's marches and strikes. The Second International Conference of Women Socialists was held in Copenhagen at the same time, and one of the participants was the activist Clara Zetkin. She suggested choosing a day when women would draw the attention of the planet to their demands. The International Women's Day of Solidarity for Economic, Social and Political Equality was established.

Since 1977, the UN Day for Women's Rights and International Peace has been celebrated on 8 March.

Labor day

On 1 May 1886 in Chicago, USA, a large-scale workers' protest took place. Tired of unbearable conditions, people demanded that the number of working hours per day be limited to 8. American authorities, who had no intention of reducing the 15-hour working day, ordered police to take tough action against the protesters. As a result, there was a mass shooting, which took hundreds of lives. 

But every year on 1 May, workers continued to protest, demanding that their harsh working conditions be taken into account. Then the Congress of the Second International decided to call 1 May world workers' day of solidarity. It was done in honour of the workers of Chicago, who were the first to dare to resist the existing system.

And it was also decided that people in all nations had the right to assemble each year on May 1st and put forward their demands that were of a social nature. Thus the Labour Day was officially recognised at state level.

Black Friday 

The expression "Black Friday" originated in the second half of the 19th century and had nothing to do with shopping. On Friday 24 September 1869, a market crash occurred in the United States due to a fall in the price of gold. The American economy could not recover from this crisis for several years. A century later, the first meaning of Black Friday has been forgotten. In the 1950s and 1960s, it began to be used by Philadelphia police officers to refer to traffic jams. Every year after Thanksgiving, the city was filled with people wanting to buy Christmas presents. They caused traffic jams and pandemonium in the shops.

Nowadays a lot of Americans take Black Friday off so they can go shopping. In the 50s, shop employees would take sick leave because of the influx of customers. "The Friday after Thanksgiving is a disease second only to the bubonic plague. At least, that's what those who have to go to work on Black Friday think. Half the employees are absent, excusing themselves with a sick note. "The period after Thanksgiving and before Christmas is the most lucrative for shop owners. Back in the 60s, businessmen thought of giving the expression "Black Friday" a more positive meaning.  "The best day of the year to go shopping with the family," was how the media described Black Friday.