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→Industrial Revolution Influence
A key moment in the modern workweek came in 1908, when a mill in New York became the first business to give workers Saturday and Sunday off, that is the first modern weekend and workweek. This occurred because the factory had a substantial number of Jewish and Christian workers. Jewish workers celebrated the Sabbath from Friday night to Saturday, while Christians wanted Sunday off. What began as an incentive to the Jewish workers soon became established for all workers in the factory.
Nevertheless, despite the use of the five day workweek and two day weekend, this concept did not catch on in the rest of the United States at this point. In 1926, Henry Ford began to implement a five day workweek by closing his factories on Saturday and Sunday. Major clothing and textile factories also began to follow this example soon after. Some factories and workplaces did institute a five day workweek, but it only became routine during the Great Depression. For companies that were struggling financially during this time, one remedy to diminish costs was to shorten the workweek, which was often six days, to five days. This helped many businesses stay viable during very difficult economic periods for the US and the world. By 1940, what solidified the modern weekend in the United States was the Fair Labor Standards Act, that made the 40 hour workweek the norm. In effect, this meant that two days off were needed and Saturday and Sunday were the most convenient for this given their cultural background and norms already practiced in parts of the country.
==Recent Developments==
