Celebrated on 03/08/2026
International Women's Day was first celebrated in 1911 by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. The date was moved to March 8 in 1913 and has been observed on that day ever since.
International Women's Day (IWD) emerged from the labor movements of the early 20th century, particularly in North America and Europe. The first National Woman's Day was observed in the United States on February 28, 1909, organized by the Socialist Party of America. Inspired by this, German activist Clara Zetkin proposed at the 1910 International Socialist Women's Conference that an annual International Women's Day be established to promote women's rights, including suffrage. The first IWD was celebrated on March 19, 1911, in several European countries, drawing over a million participants.
In 1913, Russian women observed IWD on the last Sunday of February, which corresponded to March 8 in the Gregorian calendar. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, the date was fixed as March 8 and became a public holiday in the Soviet Union. The United Nations began celebrating IWD in 1975, International Women's Year, and later adopted it as an official UN observance. Today, IWD is recognized globally as a day to celebrate women's achievements, raise awareness about gender equality, and advocate for women's rights. It is marked by protests, conferences, cultural events, and social media campaigns.
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