In 1912, Philadelphian Anna Jarvis actually trademarked the phrases “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day”, and created the Mother’s Day International Association.
The location of the apostrophe was purposeful- it was meant to be a singular possessive, for each family to honor their individual mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world. It became an official U.S. Holiday in 1914, and adopted by other countries to be celebrated all over the world, although different countries celebrate on different days throughout the year.In the 1920s she unsuccessfully tried to make it less commercial – her wish is that it would be a quiet day of reflection.
Mother Facts:
“Whistler’s Mother” is actually called “Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother.”
The youngest authenticated mother was Lina Medina, who delivered a 6½-pound boy by cesarean section in Lima, Peru in 1939, at the age of 5 years and 7 months.
On April 9, 2003, Satyabhama Mahapatra, a 65-year-old retiredee in India, became the world’s oldest mother when she gave birth to a baby boy, her first child. The baby was conceived through artificial insemination using eggs from the woman’s 26-year-old niece, Veenarani Mahapatra, and the sperm of Veenarani’s husband.
On November 28, 2008, 70-year old Rajo Devi of India gave birth to her first child, a baby girl, after IVF treatments. Rajo is the current oldest mom record holder.
The first “man” to give birth was Thomas Beatie. The bearded Mr Beatie was born a girl and named Tracy Lagondino, but had gender-reassignment surgery and is now legally, but obviously not entirely, male. The baby, a girl, was delivered by C-section on July 3, 2008.
Mother-in-Law Day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday in October.
During the Middle Ages, it was customary for the wealthy to give serfs the day off on Mothering Sunday (the fourth Sunday of Lent) so they could visit their mothers, who often lived far away.
The odds of a woman delivering twins is 1-in-33.
The odds of having triplets or other multiple births is approximately 1-in-53.
Monkee Mike Nesmith’s mother, Bette Nesmith Graham was the inventor of Liquid Paper correction fluid. She sold the rights to the Gillette Corporation in 1979 for $47.5 million and when she died in 1980, she left half of her fortune to her son Michael. She gave the other half to charities.
On TV, Lucy gave birth to Little Ricky during the January 19, 1953, episode of “I Love Lucy.” In real life, Lucille Ball gave birth to son Desi Arnaz IV on the exact same day.
Television’s prototype perfect mom, June Cleaver, first appeared in households in “Leave it to Beaver” on October 4, 1957.
Check out This List of TV’s most beloved mothers.
Japan’s Imperial family claim their earliest ancestry to Omikami Amaterasu, the Mother of the World.
Hoyt Axton wrote Three Dog Night’s “Joy To The World”. His mother, Mae Axton wrote “Heartbreak Hotel” for Elvis Presley. Elvis, a true mama’s boy, slept in the same bad as his mother until he reached puberty.
There are about 83 million American mothers.
In almost every language, the word for “mother” begins with the letter M.
Missy is the name of Snoopy’s mother from the Peanuts cartoon strip.
The similar (but inclusive of all females – not just mothers) International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year
Want to see what music was popular with mom and dad when you were most likely conceived? Click Here.
Animal Mothers:
A female oyster can produce over 100 million young over her lifetime.
A mother giraffe often gives birth while standing, so the new born’s first experience outside the womb is a 6-foot fall.
Mommy chimpanzees often develop lifelong relationships with their offspring.
Kittens are born both blind and deaf, but the vibration of their mother’s purring is a vibration signal that the kittens can feel , signaling them where to nurse.
The Mother’s Day Proclamation
Julia Ward Howe first issued her Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870 as a call for women to join in support of disarmament.
It is included in the Unitarian Universalist hymnal Singing the Living Tradition.
“Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts, Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”
From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.” Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means Whereby the great human family can live in peace, Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, But of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient And at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.”
The modern holiday was first celebrated in the U.S. in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother. She then began a campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday in the US. West Virginia first recognized the holiday in 1910.