What is the history of March 8, International Women's Day? By choosing March 8, International Women's Day (IWD) for these actions, we are following in a long tradition of using this day to celebrate the power of women working together and press for further advances in women's visions for peace, justice and equality. The idea of having an international women's day was first put forward at the turn of the 20th century amid rapid world industrialization and economic expansion that led to protests over working conditions. Women from clothing and textile factories staged one such protest on March 8, 1857 in New York City. The garment workers were protesting poor working conditions and low wages. The protesters were attacked and dispersed by police, but two years later, they established their first labor union. More protests followed on March 8 in subsequent years, most notably in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights. In 1910 the first international women's conference was held in Copenhagen by the Socialist International and an 'International Women's Day' was established. The following year, IWD was marked by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Just weeks later, however, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City killed over 140 garment workers, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants, due to a lack of safety measures. Subsequent International Women's Days became a time to commemorate those women. On the eve of World War I, women across Europe held peace rallies on March 8, 1913. Demonstrations marking International Women's Day in Russia proved to be the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Following the October Revolution, the Bolshevik feminist Alexandra Kollontai persuaded Lenin to make it an official holiday, and during the Soviet period it continued to celebrate "the heroic woman worker". However, the holiday quickly lost its political flavor and became an occasion for men to express their love for the women around them - somewhat similar to Western Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together. The day remains an official holiday in Russia and several other countries, and is observed by men giving women flowers and gifts, but has virtually no political content. In the West, International Women's Day was commemorated during the 1910s and 1920s, but dwindled. It was somewhat revived by the rise of feminism in the 1960s and in 1975, during International Women's Year, the United Nations began sponsoring International Women's Day. Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for advances, and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women's rights. In the United States, where International Women's Day is barely known, CODEPINK is trying to revive the tradition of using March 8 as a day to gather women together to call for peace, justice and equal rights for all.