The idea for Labor Day – a national holiday celebrating workers – goes back to 1882. But it’s not clear who came up with it first. Peter J. McGuire, a carpenter and co-founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), is usually given the credit. But some historians believe it should actually go to a machinist named Matthew Maguire, who reportedly proposed the idea to the Central Labor Union (CLU).
It’s a bit of trivia that doesn’t much matter… except, I suppose, to the descendants of the McGuire/Maguire families.