Although the custom of setting aside a day to honor mothers has ancient roots, our observance of Mother’s Day originated in 1907 with the efforts of a devoted daughter, Anna M. Jarvis of Philadelphia, who conceived the idea of an annual nationwide celebration. The public and the press quickly embraced the idea, and villages, towns, cities, and states soon began unofficial Mother’s Day observances. On May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May Mother’s Day, and within a few years, the idea gained worldwide prominence. The day is now characterized by gift giving, sending greeting cards and flowers, and giving mother a βday offβ by taking the family out to eat.
Daily Calendar for Sunday, May 14, 2023
Born
- Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit (physicist) β
- Bobby Darin (singer) β
- George Lucas (filmmaker) β
- David Byrne (musician) β
- Cate Blanchett (actress) β
- Amber Tamblyn (actress) β
- Rob Gronkowski (football player) β
- Miranda Cosgrove (actress) β
Died
- Henry John Heinz (founder of the H. J. Heinz Company) β
- Billie Burke (actress) β
- William Lear (inventor) β
- Rita Hayworth (actress) β
- Harry Blackstone Jr. (magician) β
- Frank Sinatra (singer & actor) β
- Robert Stack (actor) β
- Anna Lee (actress whose career in films and television spanned nearly 70 years) β
- Stanley Kunitz (United States poet laureate 2000-01, Pulitzer Prize winner) β
- B. B. King (blues legend) β
- Tim Conway (comedian & actor) β
- Grumpy Cat (feline celebrity with a grumpy expression) β
Events
- Jamestown, Virginia, became the first permanent British settlement in North Americaβ
- 4-year-old Louis-DieudonnΓ© (Louis XIV) became King of France β
- Lewis and Clark’s expedition left St. Louis for the West. The Corps of Discovery, as it was later to be called, originally included approximately 45 people.β
- 34 cavalry disembarked at Indianola, Texasβ
- Copyright registered for J. Phillip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Foreverβ marchββ
- The Sparrow and the Hawk, a serial for kids, was broadcast for the first time over CBS radioβ
- President Eisenhower broke ground for the Lincoln Centerβ
- First manned U.S. space station launchedβ
- The final episode of Seinfeld airedβ
- Statue honoring the women athletes of the All-American Professional Baseball League installed at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, New Yorkβ
- Racehorse Winning Brew ran 43.97 mphβ
- Racehorse Winning Brew ran a quarter mile in 20.57 seconds at the Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Pennsylvaniaβ
Weather
- Ten degrees below zero F at Climax, Coloradoβ
- The fourth-longest dry spell in Texas ended with 0.01 inch of rain in Brownsvilleβ