The idea of an International Women's Day  arose as a day of the women's struggle for women's rights.

On 8 March 1857 women working in the textile industry in New York City, in the US, staged a protest. Thousands of women marched to the rich areas of the city to protest against their miserable conditions.The police attacked the protesters and dispersed them. Two years later, again in March, these women formed their first labor union to  protect themselves and gain some basic rights in the workplace.

The second event took place in 1908 again in March. Again thousands women marched through New York City demanding  the right to unionization, women's suffrage, higher salaries, less working hours and banning of child labor.. They adopted the slogan "Bread and Roses", with bread symbolizing economic security and roses a better quality of life.

In Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1910 during the  international conference, that was held by socialist organizations from around the world, Clara Zetkin, German socialist, proposed an International Women's Day to mark the strike of women workers in the United States and to honor the movement for women's rights.  The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries.

The following year, 1911, International Women’s Day was marked for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland.

In Russia the first International Women's Day was celebrated in 1913, March 2. At that day the meeting "scientific morning about women's questions" was organized in Saint Petersburg in a building of Kalashnikov corn-exchange. There were discussed questions about women's rights and State social security for the motherhood.
 
In February 1917  Russian women organized a strike for "bread and peace". Four days later the emperor Nikolas II  was forced to abdicate from throne and the new provisional Government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23 February according to Julian calendar that was used in Russia at that time, but coincided with 8 March according to the Gregorian calendar.



In December 1977 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.

Posters of the Soviet time

In Russia I was a deputy director of the State institution of Department of Culture. But when I was 27 I was working at school as History of World Culture teacher   

I don't think all that events are forgotten in America. There are many womens organization in US. It is just a sad when some of them are turning into ridicules forms 

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