History of Mother's Day

Mothering Sunday - That was what Mother's Day was called when it was first celebrated in Greece and dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, in the 1600's.

On Mothering Sunday, England's poor who worked as servants would be given the day off and they would go home and spend the day with their mothers bringing with them a cake known as the mothering cake.

Over time, the Christian church celebrated "Mother Church" to honour Mary the mother of Christ and people began honouring their mothers as well as the church.

In 1872 in the United States, Julia Ward Howe first organised a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace. Ms Howe would hold Mother's Day meetings in Boston every year.

In 1907, Anna Jarvis campaigned to memorialise the life work of her mother, also named Anna and establish a national Mother's Day. Ms Jarvis persuaded her mother's church to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May.

Ms Jarvis and her supporters were successful as by 1911 Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state. In 1914, President Wodrow Wilson made the official announcement proclaiming Mother's Day as a national Holiday to be held each year 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 celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May, which has become the most popular day of the year to dine out as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to honour and to express appreciation of their mothers.