On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issues a presidential proclamation that officially establishes the first national Mother’s Day holiday to celebrate America’s mothers.

The idea for a “Mother’s Day” is credited by some to Julia Ward Howe (1872) and by others to Anna Jarvis (1907), who both suggested a holiday dedicated to a day of peace. Many individual states celebrated Mother’s Day by 1911, but it was not until Wilson lobbied Congress in 1914 that Mother’s Day was officially set on the second Sunday of every May. In his first Mother’s Day proclamation, Wilson stated that the holiday offered a chance to “[publicly express] our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”

Citation Information

Article Title Woodrow Wilson proclaims the first Mother’s Day holiday Author History.com Editors Website Name HISTORY URL https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/woodrow-wilson-proclaims-the-first-mothers-day-holiday

Date Accessed May 7, 2023 PublisherA&E Television Networks Last Updated May 6, 2021

Original Published Date November 16, 2009

MAY 9, 1958 Fun Fact:

On this day in history, the universe decided to drop one of its weirdest plot twists: a 1958 western aired featuring a con man named Trump who tried to sell Texans on a giant wall. Yes, really. History sometimes writes better comedy than TV.

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A 1958 episode of the CBS western Trackdown — Season 1, Episode 30, titled “The End of the World” — introduced a traveling swindler named Walter Trump, played by actor Lawrence Dobkin. In the story:

• Trump arrives in a Texas town claiming the world will end.
• He insists only he can save everyone.
• His solution: build a wall around the town to protect them from cosmic disaster.
• He pressures townspeople for money and stokes fear to gain control.
• Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman exposes him as a fraud.

This is not an internet myth — Snopes, CBS News, and archival TV sources all confirm the episode’s authenticity.

Sourced: history.com, AI, etc., et al

1429 – Joan of Arc defeated the besieging English at Orleans.

1502 – Christopher Columbus left Spain for his final trip to the Western Hemisphere.

1671 – Thomas “Captain” Blood stole the crown jewels from the Tower of London.

1754 – The first newspaper cartoon in America showed a divided snake “Join or die” in “The Pennsylvania Gazette.”

1785 – Joseph Bramah patented the beer-pump handle.

1825 – The Chatham Theatre opened in New York City. It was the first gas-lit theater in America.

1901 – In Australia, the Duke of Cornwall and York declared the First Commonwealth Parliament open.

1904 – The Great Western Railway Number 3440 City of Truro became the first railway locomotive to exceed 100 miles per hour.

1915 – German and French forces fought the Battle of Artois.

1926 – Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett became the first men to fly an airplane over the North Pole.

1930 – A starting gate was used to start a Triple Crown race for the first time.

1936 – Fascist Italy took Addis Abba and annexed Ethiopia.

1936 – The first sheet of postage stamps of more than one variety went on sale in New York City.

1940 – Vivien Leigh debuted in America on stage in “Romeo and Juliet” with Lawrence Olivier.

1941 – The German submarine U-110 was captured at sea by Britain’s Royal navy.

1945 – U.S. officials announced that the midnight entertainment curfew was being lifted immediately.

1946 – King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy abdicated and was replaced by Umberto.

1955 – West Germany joined NATO.

1958 – Richard Burton made his network television debut in the presentation of “Wuthering Heights” on CBS-TV.

1960 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for sale an oral birth-control pill for the first time.

1961 – Jim Gentile (Baltimore Orioles) set a major league baseball record when he hit a grand slam home run in two consecutive innings. The game was against the Minnesota Twins.

1962 – A laser beam was successfully bounced off Moon for the first time.

1974 – The House Judiciary Committee began formal hearings on the Nixon impeachment.

1978 – The bullet-riddled body of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro was found in an automobile in the center of Rome. The Red Brigades had abducted him.

1980 – A Liberian freighter hit the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida. 35 motorists were killed and a 1,400-foot section of the bridge collapsed.

1987 – Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers were married.

1994 – Nelson Mandela was chosen to be South Africa’s first black president.

1996 – In video testimony to a courtroom in Little Rock, AR, U.S. President Clinton insisted that he had nothing to do with a $300,000 loan in the criminal case against his former Whitewater partners.

2002 – In Bethlehem, West Bank, a deal was reached that would end the 38-day standoff at the Church of the Nativity. Thirteen suspected militants were to be deported to several different countries. The standoff had begun on April 2, 2002.

2002 – In Kaspiisk, Russia, 39 people were killed and at least 130 were injurde when a remote-controlled bomb exploded during a holiday parade.

2002 – In Bahrain, people were allowed to vote for representatives for the first time in nearly 30 years. Women were allowed to vote for the first time in the country’s history.

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