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Why is March 8 International Women’s Day?

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International Women’s Day (IWD) is held on March 8 to commemorate a strike for “bread and peace” in Russia. It was on that day (February 23, Old Style) in 1917 that women in Petrograd (St. Petersburg), Russia, staged a strike to protest food shortages, poor living conditions, and World War I. The strike helped give rise to the Russian Revolution of 1917, which led to the abdication of Nicholas II on March 15 (March 2). In 1921 the date of the IWD was officially made March 8.