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May Day Festivities Begin in Moscow
It's May Day in the Russian capital. A march organized by the Association of Independent Trade Unions and the United Russia Party has begun near Belorussia Station and will wind up at Triumphal Square. Scientists, educators, defense workers, construction workers and fishermen will be represented by flagbearers. The marchers will be proceeded by a banner reading “A stable Russia is a united Russia.” Members of the Nashi youth movement will carry a banner reading “Dismantle the Fascist Estonian Embassy.”
Leftist are gathering on Kaluga Square for an action sponsored by Working Russia. The United Civil Front will also participate in that action.
There are a total of 14 actions being held today. They are expected to attract up to 50,000 people. Many more will take advantage of the holiday to walk through the city on this temperate spring day.
May Day is a holiday in 66 countries. Its origins are anything but festive, however. On May 1, 1886, workers in Chicago, declared a strike to demand that an eight-hour work day be made law. The day ended in bloody clashes with the police. The day was chosen by the congress of the Second International in Paris in 1889 for annual demonstrations. It was observed the next year in Austro-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United States and other countries.
In Australia this year, the holiday has been moved to May 7. In France, it coincides with the ancient holiday of the wood lily, when it is customary to give bouquets of lily-of-the-valley. In New York, it coincides with the day of the blessing of bicyclists, which is preceded by a major bicycle race. The first bicycle was seen in New York City on this day in 1819, when it was promptly banned as a public danger.
www.kommersant.com
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