The history of Mother's Day is centuries old and goes back to the times of ancient Greeks, who held festivities to honour Rhea, the mother of the gods. The early Christians celebrated the Mother's festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honour Mary, the mother of Christ. Interestingly, later on, a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers, and named it as the Mothering Sunday. In 1872, Julia Ward Howe organised a day for mothers dedicated to peace. It is a landmark in the history of Mother's Day.

In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), a Philadelphia schoolteacher, began a movement to set up a national Mother's Day in honour of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honour mothers. The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honouring Anna's mother. Anna handed out her mother's favourite flowers, the white incarnations, on the occasion as they represent sweetness, purity, and patience. Anna's hard work finally paid off in the year 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honour of mothers.

Slowly and gradually Mother's Day became very popular and gift-giving activity increased. All this commercialisation of the Mother's Day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. Regardless of Jarvis's worries, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States and other countries. Actually, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year. Although Anna may not be with us, Mother's Day lives on and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries throughout the world celebrate Mother's Day at various times during the year, but some such as Jamaica, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.