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 The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honour of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods.
During the 1600s, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday". Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent, "Mothering Sunday" honoured the mothers of England.
During this time, many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday, the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.
In the United States, Mother's Day was first suggested in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the words to the Battle hymn of the Republic) as a day dedicated to peace. Ms. Howe would hold organised Mother's Day meetings in Boston, Mass every year.
In 1907, Ana Jarvis from Philadelphia, began a campaign to establish a national Mother's Day. Ms. Jarvis persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May.
By the next year, Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia. Ms. Jarvis and her supporters began to write to ministers, businessmen and politicians in their quest to establish a national Mother's Day. The campaign was successful, and by 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state.
President Woodrow Wilson, in 1914, made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national holiday to be celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of May.
While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother's Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries which also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.
We in India, follow suit. To mothers of the world - may they be remembered everyday of the year!
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