The March 19 date was chosen because it commemorated the day that the Prussian king promised to introduce votes for women in 1848. The promise would give hope for equality but it was a promise that never materialized. The International Women’s Day date was later moved to March 8 in 1913.
After the UN was founded on October 24, 1945, it started assessing the importance of women’s rights, and finally drew global attention to women’s concerns in 1975 by calling for an International Women’s Year.
