What are the origins of this fun-filled festive custom?
Almost half a million people marched on Washington, but there was also an enormous international participation. There were approximately 600 marches organized in over 80 different countries. It's estimated that somewhere between 3.2 and 5.2 million people took part in women's marches around the world that day.
A massive anti-racism protest began in Minneapolis on the May 26, 2020. Protestors were reacting to the murder of an African-American man named George Floyd, who was killed by a white police officer. The officer asphyxiated him while being filmed by onlookers.
In August 1963, an enormous peaceful protest was organized in the name of racial equality in the US. More than 200,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Yushchenko appointed Yulia Tymoshenko as his prime minister. She was the first female prime minister in Ukraine's history.
Just two months later, on November 9, the Berlin Wall finally came down after 28 years. The first step towards German reunification had been taken.
The Orange Revolution took place in Kiev in 2004 due to an extremely contentious presidential election involving supposed poisoning and voter fraud. Hundreds of thousands of people filled Kiev's main square to protest the election results.
It was at this march that Martin Luther King Jr. made his historic "I Have a Dream" speech. It's believed that this event pressured President John F. Kennedy to proceed with the civil rights legislation.
In 1989, public pressure was building in Germany to take down the Berlin Wall and reunite the country. Protests took place all over Germany and it's believed that this was the final straw for the East German government.
In an extremely peaceful form of protest, Mahatma Gandhi went on a 240 mile (about 386 km) journey on foot to collect his own salt from the seashore by hand. The journey took 23 days. It was a response to harsh taxation introduced by British colonizers in India.
This event was a catalyst for the 10-year revolution that took place in France. Bastille day is still celebrated on July 14 every year.
The Boston Tea Party was not the pleasant gathering you might imagine from the name. In 1773, more than a hundred men secretly boarded British ships at Boston harbor and dumped 45 tons of tea into the water.
The peaceful protest became a massacre when the Chinese government sent tanks into the square to clear the protestors. The ruthless attack resulted in hundreds of people, mostly students, being crushed to death. This image of a lone protestor facing the tanks is now one of the most famous photos in history.
This one event has come to symbolize the entire French Revolution. On July 14, 1789, a group of Parisian revolutionaries stormed the Bastille, a prison long seen as the symbol of the crown's authority. They took control of the prison and beheaded the governor.
The protest quickly became a riot, or some would even say an act of domestic terrorism, when the protestors breached the police perimeters to storm and occupy the building for several hours. It's the only time in history that the Capitol Building has been taken, and five people died as a result.
This was in protest of harsh new taxes introduced by British colonizers and is considered one of the precursors to the American Revolution.
The year 1989 was also a historic one in China. An enormous student-led protest took place in Beijing's famous Tiananmen Square. At least one million protestors peacefully occupied the square for seven weeks to demand democracy, free speech, and a free press in China.
The protests carried on for 12 days until a revote was called and a new president was elected. Viktor Yushchenko, whose party color is orange, became the President of Ukraine.
Nationally and internationally, the incident is being called an attack on democracy, one of the fundamental values and sources of pride of the United States. Trump's refusal to concede the election and the storming of the Capitol have seriously damaged the country's reputation as the model for a highly developed democracy.
On December 1, 1955, one of the most revered women in history made a monumental decision. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama bus when ordered to do so by the driver. She was subsequently arrested and fined.
The local Black community responded to this incident by completely boycotting the buses of Montgomery. This was highly effective considering they made up 75% of the passengers. This led to violent responses from the white community, firebombing of the homes of civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., and attacking Black churches.
One year later, the Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was illegal. It was a turning point in the American civil rights movement.
In 1950, in the early days of apartheid in South Africa, a young Nelson Mandela and his African National Congress party organized an enormous protest against a new law that allowed the government to investigate any political party or organization.
The Women's March on Washington took place on January 21, 2017, the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. There was widespread outrage at misogynistic and offensive comments Trump had made, in addition to numerous accusations of misconduct by women.
The events looked eerily similar to the January 6 US Capitol attack just two years before, which was also stoked by baseless rumors of election fraud, BBC reports. Even the same Trump-supporting figures such as former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and "Stop the Steal" movement leader Ali Alexander encouraged the rioters in Brazil, and Bolsonaro supporters reportedly used the same extremist rhetoric online that drove Washington rioters in 2021.
Hundreds of supporters of Brazil's far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro broke through police barricades, smashed windows, and stormed into Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court on January 8 2023 to protest against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's inauguration.
On January 6, 2021, a large group of protestors (though debate around the use of this word is rampant) supporting Donald Trump began a riot at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. where Congress was assembled to count the electoral votes and formalize Joe Biden's presidential victory.
This simple action was the catalyst for an unprecedented large-scale religious movement that changed history. The Reformationists went to war with the Catholic church and Roman Empire and succeeded in forming a new major Christian religion.
Sources: (Live Science) (History Collection)
See also: Close calls that could have changed the course of history
Throughout history, protests have been used as a means for people to raise their voices against systems that oppress and corrupt. When those in power refuse to listen, it's often the only way for citizens to begin the process of change. Not all protests end well or fulfill their purpose, but even those that ended in bloodshed have influenced lasting societal change for future generations.
Some protests are famous for achieving monumental social and political change, while others are remembered for their chaos and violence and would be more appropriately considered riots. Click through this gallery to learn more about the most remarkable protests and riots in history.
The Protestant Reformation began with one of the most low-key protests in history. In 1517, the German priest Martin Luther nailed his treatise detailing the abuses of the Catholic church to the door of a German church.
Famous protests and riots that changed the course of history
Resistance that led to monumental change...
LIFESTYLE Political movements
Throughout history, protests have been used as a means for people to raise their voices against systems that oppress and corrupt. When those in power refuse to listen, it's often the only way for citizens to begin the process of change. Not all protests end well or fulfill their purpose, but even those that ended in bloodshed have influenced lasting societal change for future generations.
Some protests are famous for achieving monumental social and political change, while others are remembered for their chaos and violence and would be more appropriately considered riots. Click through this gallery to learn more about the most remarkable protests and riots in history.