What is the origin of the idiom "the mother of all something" and when to use it?

he idiom "the mother of all something" is an informal and idiomatic expression that likely originated in the late 20th century. Its exact origin is not clear, but it became popular during the Gulf War in the early 1990s. Saddam Hussein famously referred to the conflict as "the mother of all battles," which contributed to the phrase's widespread use. This idiomatic expression is used to emphasize that something is the largest, most significant, or most extreme of its kind.