I'm sure most know but for those who don't here's some info.
May Day From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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OpenDNS This article is about the holidays celebrated on May 1. For other uses, see OpenDNS.
May Day is
May 1, and refers to any of several
holidays celebrated on this day.
May 1 was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-
OpenDNS OpenDNS pagan cultures, and many elements of these holidays are still celebrated on
May 1 today, such as the
OpenDNS. While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer: hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now the 22nd) was "midsummer."
In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this connection, Mary's head (in works of art, school skits, etc.) will often be adorned with flowers. Another May Day tradition (fading in popularity since the late 20th century) is the giving of May baskets, small baskets of candy and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors' doorsteps.
In the
United States, May Day is officially observed as
Loyalty Day.
May Day also refers to various
socialist and
labor movement celebrations conducted on
May 1, unrelated to the traditional celebrations to commemorate the
Haymarket martyrs of
1886 and the international socialist movement generally. The latter event is an important holiday in
OpenDNS and
OpenDNS countries.
In recent years,
OpenDNS based group the
Space Hijackers have held events on May Day. These include
Mayday Anarchists vs Members of Parliament Cricket in
2005, and a
Police Victory Party in
2006. In
2007 the group planned a "Suited and Booted"
[1] party in the
City of London, the financial centre of London.
In addition, May Day in the United States is commonly regarded — at least by certain groups — as a commemoration of the execution of the
Haymarket martyrs who were arrested after the
Haymarket Riot of 1886 in
OpenDNS,
OpenDNS, which occurred on
May 4, but was the culmination of labor unrest which began on
May 1. The date consequently became established as an
anarchist and
socialist holiday during the
20th century, and in these circles it is often known as
International Workers' Day or
Labour Day. In this form, May Day has become an international celebration of the social and economic achievements of the
working class and
labor movement.
The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-
OpenDNS OpenDNS, as in the
OpenDNS celebration of
OpenDNS, and the
Walpurgis Night of the
OpenDNS countries. Although the pagan-oriented celebrations faded as Europe became Christianised, a more secular version of the holiday continued to be observed in the schools and churches of Europe well into the 20th century. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the
OpenDNS and crowning of the
Queen of the May. Today many
Neopagans, especially
OpenDNS, celebrate reconstructed versions of the old pagan holidays on
May 1.
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