Labor Day History
What city hosted the first U.S. Labor Day parade?
NYC
Before becoming famous, this U.S. President once worked as a movie lifeguard in Illinois.
Ronald Reagan
Which State has the highest minimum wage?
As of the end of 2025, the District of Columbia has the highest minimum wage at $17.95 per hour, followed by the state of Washington at $16.66 per hour. California and New York (in the NYC, Long Island, and Westchester areas) are tied for the third-highest, both at $16.50 per hour, with Connecticut coming in at $16.35 per hour.
Dolly Parton sang about this workday schedule in her hit song.
9 to 5, Can you recite a verse from the song?
Which President broke up the 1981 Air Traffic Controllers strike?
Ronald Reagan
What color of clothing was traditionally avoided after Labor Day, according to old fashion rules?
White
What was Elvis Presley’s job before becoming the King of Rock and Roll?
Truck Driver
Roughly what percent of U.S. workers belong to unions today? (2%, 10%, 25%, or 40%)
Around 10%
In the comic strip Peanuts, what job does Lucy often set up with her little booth?
Psychiatric help for 5¢
The Haymarket Affair of 1886 was a labor protest in which U.S. city?
Chicago
Labor Day is sometimes called the “unofficial end” of Summer, what period of time on the calendar does Summer officially end?
In the Northern Hemisphere, the end of summer is marked by the autumnal equinox, which typically falls around late September, such as the 22nd or 23rd. During this time period, the length of daylight and darkness is nearly equal worldwide. As the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun, temperatures gradually decrease, the foliage changes color, and nature prepares for the arrival of autumn.
Which U.S. president once worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop?
Barak Obama
Today, which industry employs the most workers in the U.S.?
Healthcare & social assistance
Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times critiques what?
Assembly line/industrial work
Boeing Defense machinists at which city’s facilities began a strike in August 2025, rejecting a 20% raise proposal?
St Louis
The United States celebrates Labor Day in September, but most countries celebrate International Workers’ Day in which month?
May
Which comedian worked as a mailman before making it big?
Steve Carell
The U.S. workforce added the 40-hour workweek standard in what decade?
1930s
In Green Acres, Oliver Wendell Douglas gave up his job as a lawyer to do what?
Become a farmer
In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt intervened in a major strike involving what industry, this included the The “Battle of Blair Mountain” in 1921, the largest labor uprising in U.S. history ?
Coal Mining
Which U.S. state was the first to make Labor Day a legal holiday?
Oregon
Pope Francis once held this surprising job in Argentina before joining the priesthood.
Nightclub bouncer
Which U.S. city is known as the birthplace of organized labor and unionism?
Philadelphia
In I Love Lucy, Lucy and Ethel hilariously worked on a factory line doing what?
Wrapping/packaging chocolates
The 1936–37 sit-down strike happened in what industry?
Automobile/GM plants