history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle ofwomen to participate in society on an equal footing with men. Inancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against menin order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian womencalling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versaillesto demand women's suffrage. The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turnof the century, which in the industrialized world was a period ofexpansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radicalideologies. Following is a brief chronology of the mostimportant events:1909In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party ofAmerica, the first National Woman's Day was observed across theUnited States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate it onthe last Sunday of that month through 1913. 1910The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established aWomen's Day, international in character, to honour the movementfor women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffragefor women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval bythe conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, whichincluded the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.1911As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previousyear, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where morethan one million women and men attended rallies. In addition tothe right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded theright to work, to vocational training and to an end todiscrimination on the job.Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire inNew York City took the lives of more than 140 working girls, mostof them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had asignificant impact on labour legislation in the United States,and the working conditions leading up to the disaster wereinvoked during subsequent observances of International Women'sDay.1913-1914As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I,Russian women observed their first International Women's Day onthe last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on oraround 8 March of the following year, women held rallies eitherto protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.1917With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian womenagain chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread andpeace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, butthe women went on anyway. The rest is history: Four days laterthe Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Governmentgranted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere. Since those early years, International Women's Day has assumed anew global dimension for women in developed and developingcountries alike. The growing international women's movement,which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women'sconferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying pointfor coordinated efforts to demand women's rights andparticipation in the political and economic process. Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to reflect onprogress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts ofcourage and determination by ordinary women who have