International Women's Day: From communist roots to global holiday (+video)

But the Socialist Party's National Woman's Day had further reverberations. 

In 1910, an international group called the Socialist International met in Copenhagen. There, German socialist Clara Zetkin suggested an international version of the American holiday. "The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish Parliament," writes the UN. 

The next year, four European countries celebrated International Women's Day. More than 1 million people across Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland rallied for women's rights. Observance spread year after year, eventually losing its overt socialist spin. International Women's Day is now an official holiday in 30 countries and widely observed in several others. InternationalWomensDay.com lists hundreds of events from around the world.

But the spirit of the day has taken on many forms. As the Monitor's Whitney Eulich writes, "Many women in China will have a half-day off of work in honor of IWD, and some employers even shower their female employees with gifts." Meanwhile, the "Turkmenistan government will honor mothers by awarding a special title and badge to women with eight or more children. Ireland will hold "a brunch for survivors of domestic abuse and violence."

The United Nations took a similarly serious tone. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recognized the considerable progress made since the first International Women's Day. “But, despite this momentum, there is a long way to go before women and girls can be said to enjoy the fundamental rights, freedom and dignity that are their birthright and that will guarantee their well-being,” said the Secretary-General on Wednesday.

Mr. Ban focused on rural women, but you can see room for improvement here in the US, where women make 77.4 cents for every dollar earned by a man, according to 2010 numbers from the National Committee on Pay Equality. 

Google, for its part, took the opportunity for a commemorative doodle. The spring-themed illustration swapped out the Google G with the Roman symbol for Venus – a circle with a cross underneath. The emblem has become a universal emblem for women. 

For more on how technology intersect daily life, follow Chris on Twitter @venturenaut.

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