May 11, 2025
As per reports, within 4-5 years many states had adopted Mother’s Day as a formal holiday and celebration for mothers. In 1914, six years after she began the first Mother’s Day celebration, President Woodrow Wilson made the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Anna remained unmarried her entire life.
Second Sunday of May
Although the date changes year-to-year, Mother’s Day is always held on the second Sunday of May—similarly to how Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November.
The Romans also celebrated a mother Goddess, Cybele, every March as far back as 250BC. Mothering Sunday has been celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent, in the UK and Ireland, since the 16th century. The date varies in other parts of the world.
Mexican Mother’s Day is celebrated on May 10, a date that never changes from year to year. El Salvador and Guatemala also honor El Día de Las Madres on the same day as the Mexican Mother’s Day format spreads across Latin America.
In the United States, Mother’s Day is celebrated annually on the second Sunday in May; therefore, the date changes yearly.
In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother’s Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.
The idea started in America when a woman called Anna Jarvis held a small memorial service for her own mother on 12 May 1907. Soon after, most places in America were observing the day and in 1914, the US president made it a national holiday, celebrated on the second Sunday of May.