By Kaitlyn Chamberlin | Reader’s Digest
Father’s Day is celebrated by families all around the world. While your dad probably enjoys being showered with gifts and love on this special day, that wasn’t the case with the average dad back when the day was first created, over 100 years ago. In fact, the history of Father’s Day is quite long and controversial. So what is Father’s Day, and how did it originate?
Mother’s Day actually came first (it was celebrated as far back as the 1860s and declared a national holiday in 1914) and paved the way for Father’s Day. The history of Father’s Day goes back to 1908 when a church in West Virginia held a sermon to honor 362 men who were killed the previous year in a coal mining explosion. This was the country’s first ever event to strictly honor fathers, but it was just a one-and-done thing. Nothing really came of it.
The following year, however, a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd started her quest to establish Father’s Day as a national holiday. Dodd was one of six raised by her single father and thought fathers should be honored the same way as mothers. After a year of petitioning her local community and government, Dodd’s home state of Washington celebrated its first official Father’s Day on June 19, 1910. Over the years, the celebration of Father’s Day spread from state to state and, after a long fight, it was finally declared a national holiday in 1972 when President Nixon signed it into law.
It took more than 60 years from the birth of the idea to Father’s Day actually being recognized as a federal holiday, and a lot sure did happen in that time. According to History.com, in the 1920s and 1930s, there was a national movement to get rid of both Mother’s and Father’s Day and replace them with one “Parent’s Day.” Had it been successful, we’d surely be asking “Father’s Day? What is Father’s Day?” today! Beyond that, some men didn’t even want a Father’s Day to begin with. Some saw it as a “Hallmark” holiday invented for the sole purpose of a commercial gimmick. Others saw it as an attempt by society to squash manliness.
The answer to “what is Father’s Day” also varies slightly around the world. Today, Father’s Day is celebrated on different days in different countries. For example, in Europe, the United States, and the majority of other countries, the holiday is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. In South America, March 19 is Father’s Day. In Australia and Fiji, it falls on the first Sunday in September.
In Canada, Father’s Day falls on June 18th this year.
By Kaitlyn Chamberlin | Reader’s Digest
NB: This article may have been edited and /or condensed. The information contained is as of date of publication and may be subject to change. These articles are intended as general information only.
