Mother’s Day 2019 trivia: 56 facts about the day you celebrate motherhood!

Mother’s Day is a celebration of motherhood and everything that this entails! So Mother’s Day 2019 is no difference!

So why don’t we find out some things about this celebration!

1. Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family
2. As well as motherhood, maternal bonds
3. And the influence of mothers in society
4. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May
5. It complements similar celebrations honoring family members
6. Such as Father’s Day, Siblings Day, and Grandparents Day
7. The modern Mother’s day began in the United States
8. At the initiative of Ann Reeves Jarvis in the early 20th century
9. This is not (directly) related to the many traditional celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have existed throughout the world over thousands of years
10. Such as the Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration
11. However, in some countries, Mother’s Day is still synonymous with these older traditions
12. The U.S.- derived modern version of Mother’s Day has been criticized for having become too commercialized
13. Founder Jarvis herself regretted this commercialism and expressed views on how that was never her intention
14. The modern holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908
15. When Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia
16. St Andrew’s Methodist Church now holds the International Mother’s Day Shrine
17. Her campaign to make Mother’s Day a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905
18. The year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died
19. Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War
20. And created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues
21. Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother by continuing the work she started
22. And to set aside a day to honor all mothers
23. Because she believed a mother is “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world”
24. In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother’s Day an official holiday
25. Joking that they would also have to proclaim a “Mother-in-law’s Day”
26. However, owing to the efforts of Anna Jarvis, by 1911 all U.S. states observed the holiday
27. With some of them officially recognizing Mother’s Day as a local holiday
28. The first being West Virginia, Jarvis’ home state, in 1910
29. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother’s Day, held on the second Sunday in May
30. As a national holiday to honor mothers
31. Although Jarvis was successful in founding Mother’s Day, she became resentful of the commercialization of the holiday
32. By the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards and other companies had started selling Mother’s Day cards
33. Jarvis believed that the companies had misinterpreted and exploited the idea of Mother’s Day
34. And that the emphasis of the holiday was on sentiment, not profit
35. As a result, she organized boycotts of Mother’s Day
36. And threatened to issue lawsuits against the companies involved
37. Jarvis argued that people should appreciate and honor their mothers through handwritten letters expressing their love and gratitude
38. Instead of buying gifts and pre-made cards
39. Jarvis protested at a candy makers’ convention in Philadelphia in 1923
40. And at a meeting of American War Mothers in 1925
41. By this time, carnations had become associated with Mother’s Day
42. And the selling of carnations by the American War Mothers to raise money angered Jarvis
43. In 1912 Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrase “Second Sunday in May, Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, Founder”
44. And created the Mother’s Day International Association
45. While the United States holiday was adopted by some other countries, existing celebrations, held on different dates
46. Honouring motherhood have become described as “Mother’s Day”
47. Such as Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom or, in Greece
48. Both the secular and religious Mother Day are present in Greece
49. Mothering Sunday is often referred to as “Mother’s Day” even though it is an unrelated celebration
50. In some countries, the date adopted is one significant to the majority religion
51. Such as Virgin Mary Day in Catholic countries
52. Other countries selected a date with historical significance
53. For example, Bolivia’s Mother’s Day is the date of a battle in which women participated
54. Some ex-socialist countries, such as Russia, celebrated International Women’s Day instead of Mother’s Day
55. Or simply celebrate both holidays, which is the custom in Ukraine
56. Kyrgyzstan has recently introduced Mother’s Day