The idea of the day gradually emerged in a period of economic expansion and commotion, soaring population growth and radical ideologies.

In 1909, the first National Woman’s Day was observed across the U.S. on 28 February.

A year later, the Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women’s Day, to honour the movement for women’s rights. No date was selected.

International Women’s Day was officially marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than 1 million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job. After 1913, the day was also observed in Russia and other parts of Europe.

Since those early years, International Women’s Day has acquired a new global dimension. The growing movement, strengthened by four global United Nations women’s conferences, has become a rallying point for efforts to demand women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas. It is also to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played a role in the history of women’s rights.

The day is continually promoted by the United Nations. The charter of the United Nations, signed in in 1945, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a basic human right.

Since then, the United Nations? action for the advancement of women has taken four clear directions: promotion of legal measures, mobilisation of public opinion and international action. Research, including the compilation of gender desegregated statistics, and assistance to disadvantaged groups are also included.

Quotable quotes “There is so much comedy on television. Does that cause comedy in the street??/b> Dick Cavett, talk show host and entertainer, mocking the TV-violence debate. “The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong, it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.?/b> Douglas Adams, English novelist, revealing one of the laws of computers and programming in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. “I gave my beauty and my youth to men. I am going to give my wisdom and experience to animals." Brigitte Bardot, a French actress who was an international sex symbol. She is now a conservationist and defender of animal rights. “Never believe in anything until it has been officially denied.? Otto Von Bismarck, the “Iron Chancellor?who unified Germany under Prussian leadership in 1870."