Today’s history: 136 years ago, 8 hours of work were decided by the labor movement itself; earlier used to take 15-15 hours work

Today May 1. That is, Labor Day, May Day and also International Labor Day. Now there is a reason for this too. In 1886, on May 1 itself, thousands of workers demonstrated in solidarity in the city of Chicago, America. Their demand was that the wage time should be fixed at 8 hours and one day a week should be a holiday. Earlier there was no time limit for the workers. There were no rules and regulations for them. Work was taken continuously for 15-15 hours.

About 136 years ago, this protest in Chicago turned furious. On May 4, the protesters hurled bombs targeting the police. In retaliatory firing by the police, 4 laborers were killed and about 100 laborers were injured. Even after this the movement continued. When the International Socialist Conference was held in Paris in 1889, it was decided to dedicate May 1 to the workers. In this way, gradually 1 May began to be celebrated as Labor Day or Workers Day all over the world. Today, if there is a fixed 8 hours of work for the employees in a day, then it is the result of the Chicago movement. At the same time, one day a week holiday also started after this. May 1 is celebrated as a national holiday in many countries of the world.

Beginning of Labor Day in India: In India, it was started on 1 May 1923 by the Labor Kisan Party of Hindustan in Madras (Chennai). It was led by the Left and Socialist parties. For the first time, the red flag was used as a symbol of workers’ solidarity and struggle. Since then this day is celebrated every year in India. In many states, May 1 is a holiday.

Formation of Gujarat and Maharashtra in 1960

In 1960, two new states Gujarat and Maharashtra were carved out of Bombay State. This day is celebrated as ‘Maharashtra Day’ in Maharashtra and ‘Gujarat Day’ in Gujarat. Actually, both these states were formed after a lot of struggle. In 1956, under the States Reorganization Act, the states were divided on linguistic basis. The state of Karnataka was created for Kannada speaking people and Andhra Pradesh for Telugu speakers. Similarly, Malayalam speakers got Kerala and Tamil speakers got Tamil Nadu.

This led to the demand for a separate state in Bombay State as well. Both Marathi and Gujarati were spoken in this province. The speakers of both the languages ​​started agitation with the demand of separate state. People made many agitations for their demands, in which ‘Maha Gujarat Movement’ happened. At the same time, Maharashtra Committee was formed for the demand of Maharashtra. Finally, on 1 May 1960, the then Nehru government divided this province into Maharashtra and Gujarat. The demand for a separate state was met, but the matter was stuck on the city of Bombay. Both the states wanted Bombay to be given to them. Both had their own logic behind it. The people of Maharashtra said that he should get Bombay, because most of the people there speak Marathi, while the Gujaratis said that he contributed more to the progress of Bombay. After much tussle, Bombay was finally made the capital of Maharashtra, which later came to be called Mumbai.

1913: Birth of Balraj Sahni

Actor Balraj Sahni, who exposed the common man’s sufferings and troubles in front of the world through the screen, was born today. Born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Sahni did his master’s degree in English Literature from Lahore University. After this he went to Rawalpindi to take care of his family business. Sahni did not like this work. He also worked with Gandhiji and for some time also worked in BBC London.

He was fond of acting since childhood. To fulfill this hobby, he joined the ‘Indian Progressive Theater Association’ (IPTA). In 1946, he got a chance to act in the play ‘Insaaf’. This was the first play of his acting career. He also had to go to jail for his revolutionary and communist views. Balraj was very fond of swimming. On 13 April 1973, he went for a swim in the sea. He exercised at the seaside and started preparing to go to the studio. Suddenly he developed chest pain and was taken to Nanavati Hospital, where he died.

May 1 is also remembered for these events in the country and abroad-

2011: Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11 blasts, has been killed.

1993: Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa died in a bomb blast.

1972: The country’s coal mines were nationalised.

1961: Cuban Prime Minister Dr. Fidel Castro declared Cuba a socialist nation and ended the electoral process.

1897: Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission.