Father's Day

About Father's Day

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Summary
Father's Day is a celebration observed in many countries that honours the role of fathers and forefathers.
Father's Day in other countries
Father's Day internationally

About Father's Day

Around the world, Father's Day is celebrated on different dates, though the day is celebrated in a similar manner, usually involving giving gifts to fathers and family activities.

The dates vary ‌from place to place, with many celebrations falling in the summer months, whereas others are in winter or even align with the beginning of spring. Still, Father’s Day, or some form of the holiday, exists in 111 countries around the world.

Although the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, India, and many more will also celebrate on the third Sunday in June, Australia and New Zealand celebrate the holiday on the first day of spring, the first Sunday in September down under.

In South Korea, one country that does not observe the holiday, days to honor mom and dad are combined with a Parents Day instead — held on May 8th.

The most popular date for Father's Day is the third Sunday in June. This date was first observed in the USA and has since been adopted by many countries.

Some attribute the first Father’s Day observance to the 1907 Monongah, West Virginia mining disaster that killed 361 men out of which 250 were fathers. This incident left more than a thousand children without a dad. Grace Golden Clayton, whose father was killed in the tragedy, suggested a service of commemoration to the pastor of her local Methodist chapel. But it never really caught on as an annual observance.

The more accepted origin is that Father’s Day began in 1910, two years after the first official celebration of Mother’s Day in the U.S. The holiday began thanks to a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, who had been raised with her siblings by her widower father, Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart. Inspired by how her father rose to the challenge of parenting alone, Sonora Smart Dodd thought there should be a special day to recognize dads as well as moms, according to History.com. Dodd originally wanted to mark Father's Day on June 5th, the birthday of her father. 

She campaigned with local government officials, churches and other local organizations, and in 1910, Washington state celebrated its first official Father’s Day on June 19th, marking the first Father’s Day celebration in the country.

Over the next several decades, Smart Dodd continued her campaign to make Father’s Day a nationally recognized holiday. Multiple presidents, including Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge, recognized the significance of the day, but it wasn’t until 1970 that Congress passed a joint resolution that would authorize the president to designate the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.

“The President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling on the appropriate Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on such day, inviting the governments of the States and communities and the people of the United States to observe such day with appropriate ceremonies,” the resolution read, “and urging our people to offer public and private expressions of such day to the abiding love and gratitude which they bear for their fathers.”

Behind Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas, Father’s Day is the fourth-largest card-sending holiday in the U.S., according to Hallmark. The company reports that around 72 million Father’s Day cards are exchanged annually, with about 50% purchased for people’s dads.

Another 20% were designated for husbands, whereas others were purchased for grandfathers, sons, brothers, or other father-like figures.

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