Celebrate Mom and Learn More About Mother's Day

Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff

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    Origins of Mother's Day

    The custom of honoring mothers goes back at least as far as 17th-century England, which celebrated (and still celebrates) Mothering Sunday.

    Mother's Day in the United States originated in 1872 with Julia Ward Howe, a writer, abolitionist, and suffragist who wrote the words to "Battle Hymn of the Republic." In 1911, President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday. In 2017, Mother's Day will be celebrated on May 14.

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    • Quiz: Mother's Day
      In Greek mythology, who is the Goddess of the Earth and the mother of Cyclopes, the Hundred-handed Ones, and the Titans?
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