A little known fact is that the celebration of Mother Language Day originated in Bengladesh to honor an act of patriotism: The date, February 21, was chosen as International Mother Language Day to commemorate the martyrs who sacrificed their lives to uphold the dignity of their Mother Language Bangla, on this very day in 1952. This was one of the rare instances in world history where people fearlessly gave up their lives for the sake of their mother language.