Now you might think Anna Jarvis was a florist or a greeting-card writer, but it turns out she was neither. After her mother’s death in 1905, Jarvis conceived of Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children. But you are not wrong if the cynic in you thinks of the commercial angle. Jarvis picked up financial support for her idea from John Wanamaker and in May 1908 organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a church in Grafton, West Virginia. That same day also saw thousands of people attend a Mother’s Day event at one of Wanamaker’s retail stores in Philadelphia. By 1912, many states, towns and churches had adopted Mother’s Day. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. But Jarvis was a purist. By 1920, she had become disgusted with its commercialization and urged people to stop buying Mother’s Day flowers, cards and candies. By the time of her death in 1948, Jarvis had disowned the holiday altogether and even actively lobbied the government to see it removed from the American calendar. There’s your history lesson. On to the quiz. Have fun and learn a lot.
1. On Mother’s Day 2016, Joe Maddon was managing the Cubs, who were facing Bryce Harper and the Nationals. The Cubs walked Harper seven times in the first three games of the four-game series. In the finale on Mother’s Day, the game went 13 innings (won by a walk-off home run by Javy Baez) and the Cubs walked Harper six times and hit him with a pitch in a seventh plate appearance. Since 1974, three Cubs have recorded 100 or more walks in a season. Who didn’t?
