History of Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

 The third Sunday of June is the day we celebrate the fathers of our households.  The first Father's Day was celebrated in Washington on June 19th, 1910. However, it wasn't made a national holiday until 62 years later in 1972. On the other hand, Mother's Day was made a national holiday 58 years before Father's Day. 

Father's Day was met with a lot of controversy when it was first introduced. Many men called this holiday incredibly commercial because it apparently "domesticating manliness to a high degree".

Additionally, many activists sought to make a single Parents' Day instead of Mother's and Father's Day because both parents deserve an equal amount of recognition.

This controversy ended after World War 2 because the American public had agreed that Father's Day was a good day to celebrate the young men of the American troops. Soon after, Richard Nixon declared Father's Day a national holiday.

Here are some facts about the widely-acclaimed holiday:

1) Around 111 countries celebrate Father's Day.

2)The third Sunday of June was picked by accident after it was originally supposed to happen on June 5th but the pastors weren't prepared so it was postponed.

3) Only 50% of Father's Day cards are purchased for a father, the others are for husbands, grandfather's sons, or uncles.

4) Sonora Smart Dodd was the "mother of Father's Day" as she grew up with a widowed father and appreciated the work he put into raising her.