|  International Women's Day celebrated it's 100th birthday this year. Begun in 1909 in America (which has totally forgotten there is such a day), it originally was somewhat political in nature, celebrating the advances of women in the home and workplace. It moved from America to Denmark with the internatiional women's conference in Copenhagen in 1910. From there, it spread across Europe and is still especially celebrated in the countries of the Former Soviet Union and Asia. In Russia, it is a national holiday where businesses will close.
It's currently actively celebrated in Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh,Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Israel, Laos, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia.
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 in the Soviet Union, and it was established, but was a working day until 1965. On May 8, 1965 by the decree of the USSR Presidium of the Supreme Soviet International Women's Day was declared as a non working day in the USSR "in commemoration of the outstanding merits of Soviet women in communistic construction, in the defense of their Motherland during the Great Patriotic War, in their heroism and selflessness at the front and in the rear, and also marking the great contribution of women to strengthening friendship between peoples, and the struggle for peace. But still, women's day must be celebrated as are other holidays."
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