How many days until Labor Day?

What Labor Day celebrates

Labor Day honors American workers and the labor movement that won many of the rights workers take for granted today, including the eight-hour day, weekends and safer working conditions. It falls on the first Monday in September, between September 1 and 7.

History of the holiday

In the late 1800s, many Americans worked 12-hour days, seven days a week, often in dangerous conditions, and children worked in mills, factories and mines. Labor unions organized strikes and rallies to demand better conditions. The first Labor Day parade was held in New York City on September 5, 1882, organized by the Central Labor Union; who first proposed the holiday is disputed between Peter J. McGuire of the carpenters' union and Matthew Maguire, a machinist.

Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day a holiday in 1887. In 1894, after the violent Pullman Strike, Congress passed a law making the first Monday in September a federal holiday, and President Grover Cleveland signed it.

Labor Day vs May Day

Most other countries celebrate workers on International Workers' Day, May 1, which has its own roots in the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. The US and Canada (where it is called Labour Day) chose the September date instead. Canada also celebrates on the first Monday of September.

The unofficial end of summer

• Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest travel and barbecue weekends of the year.
• In many states, schools start just after Labor Day, so it marks back to school for many families.
• It is the traditional start of the college and NFL football seasons.
• The old fashion rule "no white after Labor Day" is now largely ignored.
• Many stores hold Labor Day sales, especially on mattresses, appliances and summer clearance.

The astronomical first day of fall follows a couple of weeks later, around September 22.