What happens to a country when almost every woman stops at once? Iceland found out.

On October 24, 1975, about 90% of Iceland's women refused to do their paid jobs or their work at home for the day. They called it Kvennafrídagurinn, the Women's Day Off. Around 25,000 people packed downtown Reykjavík for a rally, in a nation of only about 220,000.

The next year, parliament passed a law guaranteeing equal rights for women and men. In 1980, Iceland elected Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the world's first democratically elected female president.

Why it still matters: one coordinated day showed how much of a country's work had gone unseen, and Iceland still marks the anniversary today.

What would stop first where you live if everyone took the day off?

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