Happy Labor Day!
Labor Day falls on the first Monday in September. For many people, it is the last big weekend of the summer, a time to have fun and play before buckling down and studying. Labor Day is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.
More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers. Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” But Peter McGuire’s place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged.
Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.
Northern Lights
Iceland is known for many things, but one thing that makes it a destination for a lot of people is the Northern Lights. The Northern Lights are bright dancing lights of the auora that are caused by a collision between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemisphere.
As you know, Iceland is a scarcely populated island with many wild, unpolluted places. It is just the kind of place that makes it possible to see the Northern Lights. The Northern Lights are visible in Iceland from September to mid-April. The lights are actually active all year, but you can only see them when it is dark. In summertime, Iceland is bright almost all the time, so that’s why people look forward to September.
