Labor Day is almost a week away, and that means people are preparing for how they’re going to spend their three-day weekends marking the unofficial end of summer. Most of us associate Labor Day with everything from barbecues to beach trips, lake weekends to lounging poolside—and all else in between.  As we look forward to Labor Day weekend, here are 10 fast facts about Labor Day to keep you up-to-speed on what the holiday is all about.

1. Labor Day celebrates the contributions and achievements of the more than 160 million people who are currently in the U.S. workforce.
2. The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882 in New York City and was planned by the Central Labor Union. The celebration involved a parade of about 10,000 workers who took unpaid leave to march through New York City.
3. In 1887, Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day a holiday.
4. In June 1894, Congress passed an act that made the first Monday in September each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
5. During the 19^th century, Americans typically worked 12-hour days, seven days a week.
6. The eight-hour workday in America was established in September 1916 with the Adamson Act.
7. In the retail world, Labor Day is known as the second largest “sale” day in the United States after Black Friday. This is due to the fact that a large number of people are off work and therefore free to shop.
8. The idea that you should not wear white after Labor Day dates back to the Victorian era, when the fashion world thought that wearing white meant you were still in vacation mode. The tradition is not really upheld today.
9. Labor Day is the unofficial end of hot dog season. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Americans eat 7 billion hot dogs.
10. To this day, there is still a Labor Day parade in New York City.

Use this facts about Labor Day to help your friends, family and coworkers to better understand the reason they get to be off work during the first Monday each September! However you spend your Labor Day holiday, we wish you a safe and fun one from UWA Online!

To learn more about UWA Online Continuing Education e-Learning, visit us at www.uwa.edu/ce.