Who Knew?

According to this, the origin of Mother's Day is more serious than I ever knew. Surprisingly:

In 1870, after the devastation of the American Civil War, social activist and poet Julia Ward Howe wrote the original Mother's Day Proclamation calling upon the women of the world to unite for peace.

Apparently they're trying to make this Mother's Day an occasion to donate to a charity that benefits the victims of the Iraq war. Better than benefiting the flower companies and Hallmark, I say.