International Womens Day has its roots in the early twentieth century womens rights movement. In which year did the first official International Womens Day celebration take place?

Introduction / Context:
International Womens Day is a global observance that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women while also calling for gender equality. Although the United Nations began officially observing it in the mid 1970s, the first official celebration took place much earlier in the twentieth century. This question checks whether you know the foundational year in which large scale rallies and events were first held under the banner of International Womens Day.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The topic is the first official International Womens Day celebration.
• We need the year when the day was first observed in a coordinated way.
• Four different years from the twentieth century are listed as options.
• Only one matches the historical record of the early womens movement.

Concept / Approach:
The first official International Womens Day was celebrated in 1911, notably in countries such as Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. More than one million people reportedly took part in rallies demanding womens rights to work, vote, and hold public office. When answering the question, it is useful to distinguish between 1911 as the year of the first official celebration and 1975, when the United Nations began formally recognising the day.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Understand that the question refers to the first official celebration, not to the year when the United Nations adopted the day.Step 2: Recall from history of social movements that International Womens Day emerged from early twentieth century socialist and labour organising.Step 3: Remember that large organised celebrations under this name took place in 1911 in several European countries.Step 4: Check the options and identify 1911, which is option B.Step 5: Select 1911 as the correct answer, noting that 1975 corresponds to later United Nations recognition.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify this by recalling that many historical articles about International Womens Day state that it was first celebrated on 19 March 1911 in countries such as Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. Later, the date of the observance shifted to 8 March, but the first official celebration year remained 1911. Textbooks and exam oriented summaries of womens history consistently give 1911 as the foundational year.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
1901 is too early and does not align with the documented sequence of womens conferences and resolutions that led to the creation of the day.

1975 is the year when the United Nations started celebrating International Womens Day, but it is not the year of the first official celebration.

1951 falls between the two events but is not associated with any milestone related to the formal start of the observance.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to choose 1975 because many people associate International Womens Day with United Nations recognition and the International Womens Year declared that year. Another pitfall is to overlook 1911 because the options include several plausible sounding years. To avoid confusion, remember the simple rule that the movement began its official celebrations in 1911, while the United Nations involvement came much later in the 1970s.

Final Answer:
The first official International Womens Day celebration took place in 1911.