The third Sunday of June is celebrated as Father's Day in America, and this year the holiday falls on June 18th. We pay tribute to the more than 70 million dads in the U.S. and honor the memory of those no longer with us.
Did you know Father’s Day was inspired by Mother’s Day? We wondered about the origins of this worldwide holiday, and with the help of the internet, this is what we found out.
- In 1908 a church in West Virginia held a one time commemoration to honor fathers. The sermon was dedicated to the memory of 362 men who had perished in a coal mining accident.
- According to History.com, in 1909 Sonora Smart Dodd, from Spokane Washington, wanted to establish a holiday to honor male parents. Sonora was one of six children being raised by a widower and she felt that male parents should have a complement holiday to Mother's Day. Due to her efforts Washington State celebrated the first Father's Day on June 19, 1910.
- Father's Day did not become a national holiday until several decades later. According to Fathersdaycelebration.com in 1924 President Calvin Coolidge urged states to celebrate the holiday to "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations". However it wasn't until 1972 that President Richard Nixon made the event a national holiday in the U.S.
- The rose is the official flower of Father's Day. Sonora Smart Dood suggested wearing a white rose to honor a father who has passed and a red rose to honor a living father.
- In some countries Father's Day is celebrated March 19, a traditional Catholic holiday called St. Joseph's Day.
We at Bird Etiquette would like to pay tribute to our fathers as we thank and honor all fathers.