Father's Day Date

The celebration of Father's Day first took place in the early years of the twentieth century. The attempt was made to pay respect to the role of fathers in parenting his child. Till then, the compliment was reserved for only the mothers with the celebration of Mother's Day. Therefore a resident of Fairmont, West Virginia took it upon herself to honor her father by organizing Father's Day on July 5, 1908. However Mrs. Grace Golden's special day was only to commemorate the deaths of 210 fathers who had lost their lives in the Monongah Mining Disaster which took place the previous year and therefore the celebration did not receive much publicity outside West Virginia.

The first official Father's Day was held two years later on June 19, 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd in Spokane, Washington. After attending a church sermon at the Central Methodist Episcopal College in Spokane which gave official recognition to Mother's Day, Sonora Smart Dodd felt that a separate day should also be reserved for the celebration of fatherhood. Sonora's father William Smart was a soldier who had to raise his entire family single-handedly after the death of his wife, and no one was aware of the sacrifices made by her father more than Sonora herself. But in spite of the support lent by the church, the YMCA and YWCA to recognize Father's Day as a day of national celebration, it took some years before people could treat Father's Day without the satire and derision attached with it.

Unbelievable as it may sound, it was as late as in the year 1966 that President Lyndon B Johnson made an official announcement designating the third Sunday of June as Father's Day. It was in the year 1972 that the third Sunday of June was made a national holiday in the US by President Richard Nixon. Though the US, the UK and Canada have followed the third Sunday of June pattern for celebrating Father's Day, different countries around the world have assigned different dates for Father's Day. Spain and Belgium celebrate Father's Day on the 19th of March every year. However, European country Germany commemorates the second or third Friday of May as Father's Day. Yet again, for Romania the second Sunday of May is the Father's Day. For Sweden the second Sunday of November is the official Father's Day.

Italy, on the other hand, celebrates Father's Day on March 19. Asian country South Korea celebrates the 8th of May as Parent's Day, which means that there is no particular day set aside for either Father's Day or Mother's Day in South Korea. Australia and New Zealand celebrate Father's Day on the first Sunday of September, whereas Brazil along with several other South American countries celebrate the day of fathers on the second Sunday of August. Therefore Father's Day is normally celebrated on different days in countries across the globe. Though there cannot be a single day to show our love and concern for our fathers, it is only fair that Father's Day be assigned as an official holiday to commemorate the services rendered by our loving dads towards the betterment of his family and children.

When is Father's Day