--- description: Americans will celebrate the women who gave birth to them, like they have for more than a century, when Mother’s Day comes around on May 8. title: Here’s What You Need to Know About Mother’s Day 2016 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here’s What You Need to Know About Mother’s Day 2016  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 13, 2016 4:37 PM CUT  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 13, 2016 4:37 PM CUT Just like they have for more than a century, Americans will celebrate their mothers this year on the second Sunday in May. [Mother’s Day](http://time.com/3850790/anna-jarvis-mothers-day-origin/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), which is recognized on different dates around the world, falls on May 8 in the U.S. this year. The annual tradition of honoring moms [officially began](http://time.com/3850695/mothers-day-2015-origins/ "undefined") when President Woodrow Wilson signed a [proclamation](https://www.scribd.com/doc/264676899/Mother-s-Day-Proclamation "undefined") on May 9, 1914, declaring the second Sunday in May “a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” **Read More:** [_Here’s How 9 Other Countries Celebrate Mother’s Day_](http://time.com/94286/mothers-day-2014-world/?iid=sr-link6 "undefined") The proclamation came after Philadelphia activist Anna Jarvis thought to send 500 carnations to her mother’s West Virginia church in her honor on May 10, 1908, in what is considered the first Mother’s Day celebration. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4292088/mothers-day-2016-may-8/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4292088/mothers-day-2016-may-8/"},"headline":"Here’s What You Need to Know About Mother’s Day 2016","datePublished":"2016-04-13T16:37:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:29:18.934Z","description":"It falls on May 8 this year","url":"https://time.com/4292088/mothers-day-2016-may-8/","keywords":["Holidays"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4292088/mothers-day-2016-may-8/","name":"Here’s What You Need to Know About Mother’s Day 2016"}}]}] ```