Mother's Day Facts

• In most languages the word for mother starts with the alphabet ‘M".
• The Chinese family names usually start with signs associated with motherhood.
• The trend of celebrating mother's day can be attributed to the ancient Greeks, who celebrated this holiday in the spring season to honor Rhea, the mother of the gods.
• About 500 years ago, there was a prophetess named mother Shipton, who had predicted that queen Elizabeth would be the next to sit on the throne.
• The meaning of Greek word "meter" and the Sanskrit word "mantra" is both mother and measurement.
• In the catalog of popular children entertainment, books by Mother Goose are on the top hot list.
• The ancient Egyptians always had a belief that "Bast" was the mother of all cats on Earth.
• The Carnation is the flower that is associated with mother's day. The red carnation meant to honor moms who are alive while white carnation is to honor a mom who has deceased.
• In early Christianity, mother's day was celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent, to honor Mother Mary.
• The Bible honors Eve as the "Mother of all Living."
• In North America, mother's day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May.
• In Ireland and the United Kingdom, mother's day is known as Mothering Sunday which is observed on the fourth Sunday of Lent, or three weeks before Easter Sunday.
• Elizabeth Ann Buttle holds a record for taking longest interval between the births of two children. Her first child was born in 1956 while her second child was born in 1999.
• Jayne Bleackley holds a record for the shortest intervals between the births of her two children. Her first baby was born on September 3, 1999 and her second baby was born on March 30, 2000. The two babies were born 208 days apart.
• Although most of South America celebrates mother's day on the second Sunday in May, Argentina celebrates mother's day on second Sunday of October.
• The wife of Russian Fedor Vassilyev made it to the Guinness Book of Records in 1997 for giving birth to most children. She delivered 69 children, which included 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets.