History and traditions

Father’s Day is a celebration inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother’s Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting, and to honour and commemorate fathers and forefathers. Father’s Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving, special dinners to fathers, and family-oriented activities.

The first observance of Father’s Day is believed to have been held on July 5, 1908 in a church located in Fairmont, West Virginia, by Dr. Robert Webb of West Virginia at the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South of Fairmont. The church still exists under the name of Central United Methodist Church.
Sonora Smart Dodd of Washington thought independently of the holiday one Sunday in 1909 while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church at Spokane, and she arranged a tribute for her father on June 19, 1910. She was the first to solicit the idea of having an official Father’s Day observance to honor all fathers.
It took many years to make the holiday official. In spite of support from the YWCA, the YMCA and churches, it ran the risk of disappearing from the calendar. Where Mother’s Day was met with enthusiasm, Father’s Day was met with laughter. The holiday was gathering attention slowly, but for the wrong reasons. It was the target of much satire, parody and derision, including jokes from the local newspaper Spokesman-Review.

Many people saw it as just the first step in filling the calendar with mindless promotions like “Grandparents’ Day”, “Professional Secretaries’ Day”, etc., all the way down to “National Clean Your Desk Day.”
A bill was introduced in 1913, US President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea in 1924, and a national committee was formed in the 1930s by trade groups in order to legitimize the holiday. It was made a federal holiday when President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation in 1966.
In addition to Father’s Day, International Men’s Day is celebrated in many countries, most often on November 19.

Dates around the world

The officially recognized date of Father’s Day varies from country to country. This section lists some significant examples, in order of date of observance.

*Officially, as the name suggests, the holiday celebrate people who are serving or were serving the Russian Armed Forces (both men and women). But the congratulations are traditionally, nationally accepted by all fathers, other adult men and male children as well.
**In China (under the title of Republic of China, still under Nationalist rule at the time), Father’s Day on August 8 was first held in Shanghai in 1945.

“Donald Duck eagerly begins each day with the best of intentions — expecting everything to go his way. It’s just that the rest of the world won’t cooperate. Normally, Donald is a friendly and cheerful guy, but when things don’t go as planned, he often loses his temper. He has boundless determination and a pervasive persistence that borders on stubbornness. Donald cares about his family and friends and can be counted on to do the right thing. Donald’s weaknesses are our own. He’s the lovable little guy on the bottom who faces defeat but keeps right on trying.”