We celebrate Labor Day on Sept. 4 this year. For many, Labor Day marks the end of the summer season, but there is another reason we take off work on the first Monday in September. It is a day dedicated to celebrating the U.S. worker and the contributions workers have made to the success of America. Labor Day was first celebrated in 1882 in New York City. It was the Central Labor Union that first acknowledged this holiday. In 1887, Oregon made it an official holiday. In 1894, it became an official national holiday.
Based on the astronomical season, Sept. 22 marks the first day of fall in the northern hemisphere. Meteorologists use a different method to determine seasons, a method based on temperatures. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, there are several folktales and sayings about this season. A few of them include: “Trees snapping and cracking in the autumn indicate dry weather;” “If, in the fall of the leaves in October, many of them wither on the boughs and hang there, it betokens a frosty winter and much snow;” “Spring rain damps. Autumn rain soaks.”
