Today is International Women’s Day; a day on which we celebrate the achievements of women in the social, economic, cultural and political fields.

International Women’s Day began during the women’s rights movements in the early 1900s. The socialist party of America first declared National Women’s Day in 1909. In 1910, women from activist and political organizations in Copenhagen got together for the second International Conference of Working Women, and the idea of International Women’s Day was discussed and approved. It was celebrated for the first time the following year, with celebrations including rallies and events protesting for the woman’s right to vote and to end gender discrimination. March 8th became the fixed date for International Women’s Day in 1914, after being moved in accordance with Russian women who celebrated the day on February 23 on the Gregorian calendar.

Nowadays, International Women’s Day is celebrated with gatherings, festivals, art exhibitions, award ceremonies, and more. To learn more, you can visit the International Women’s Day website, which was launched in 2001 to organize the day and host an extensive searchable list of events around the world.

This year’s theme is #BreakTheBias, which is asking the world to call out bias against women in workplaces, schools, and at home. Typically, people wear purple on International Women’s Day, but the official colors of International Women’s Day are purple, green, and white, according to the website. These colors stem from the UK’s Women’s Social and Political Union from the early 1900s. If you want to support women all over the world on this special day, next time you see gender bias, instead of staying quiet, call it out! Another way to show your support is to take a selfie with your arms crossed to form an “x” and post it on social media with the hashtags #BreaktheBias and #IWD2022 or on the International Women’s Day website.