Google commemorates Labor Day with a special Doodle for May 1within a global celebration that will take place this Sunday.

The most popular search engine in the world makes this type of Doodles for May 1 since 2004.

The eight -hour working day has been a cause of struggle for workers since the beginning of the industrial revolution.. And, in 1868, it was signed into law by US President Andrew Johnson.

however, not all states have adopted it and not all employers have complied with it. Chicago, the center of industrialization due to the development of the railroad, resisted.

What happened on May 1 with the Chicago Martyrs

May 1 is a date to remind the “Martyrs of Chicago”, who fought, certainly, so that the 8 hours were respected. Instead, they made them work between 12 and 16 per workday.

May 1, 1886 a group of anarchist unionist workers from that city started a protest for their rights. The strike lasted three days and ended in a tragic stage between workers and police.

Protesters called for a peaceful rally in Haymarket Square. But an unknown man threw a bomb at those trying to suppress the protest and ended up killing several policemen. The episode became known as “Haymarket Riot”.

For the truth, 31 workers were charged and five were sentenced to death and three to prison. The trial was illegitimate and it was never discovered who was responsible for the attack.

Thus, those eight people became “Martyrs in Chicago.” In 1889, in Paris, May 1 was established as the Labor Day of the Second International Socialist Workers’ Congress.

Although the events appeared in the United States, that country celebrated the holiday on the first Monday of September. That’s because in 1887, a year after the “Haymarket Riot,” U.S. President Grover Cleveland established Labor Day in September as an official holiday in the United States.

The Pitfalls of the Chicago Martyrs Trial

The trial began with a lawsuit against 31 activists, although eight were eventually accused of inciting acts of violence. They include textile clerks, shepherds, typographers, and blue-collar newspaper editors, ages 22 to 50..

Among them there are eight anarchists, socialists and union workers charged with murder and conspiracy. Samuel Felden, Oscar Neebe and Michael Scrwab received long prison sentences. George Engel, August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolf Fischer and Louis Lingg – who committed suicide at the last moment in his cell – were sentenced to death.

“My daughter works fifteen hours for fifteen cents,” Schwab declared. And I added who went to work between 13 and 17 hours a day.

Witnesses were agents and bribed by men. As they explained in the scope of the trial, Parsons – who will be hanged – watched the events from a nearby house. Lingg was directly away from the disaster. None of the eight were to blame for the blast.

“If you think you can crush these ideas that are getting stronger every day (…), I challenge you to show where we lied. If the death penalty is the price for telling the truth, I am willing to pay it with disobedience and pride. Call the hangover! ”Spies said in his final statement.

In the years that followed, Nearly 70% of workers in the country have reached some agreement on hours or wages, and rumors of this claim have been repeated elsewhere.

In 1894, Democratic President Grover Cleveland instituted Labor Day (the first Monday in September). as an official celebration.

the officer, who also held the presidency during the bloody days of 1886 and 1887, he wanted to avoid confrontations on May 1. Anglo-Saxon territories such as Australia and Canada followed. In most of the world, however, the original date remains to this day.