A special day dedicated to your daddy

This Sunday, June 19 is Father’s Day. Modern version of Father’s Day celebration originated in United States of America and thereafter the tradition spread in countries around the world. Here we look at a few interesting facts about the day:

migrator|16 Jun 2016 12:25 AM IST

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Father’s Day officially began in 1910 in Spokane, Washington, where 27-year-old Sonora Dodd proposed it as a way to honour the man who raised her when her mom died in childbirth. Dodd was at a church service thinking about how grateful she was to her father when she had the idea for Father’s Day, which would mirror Mother’s Day but be celebrated in June — her dad’s birthday month.
Inspired by Anna Jarvis’s struggle to promote Mother’s Day, Dodd began a rigorous campaign to celebrate Father’s Day in US. The Spokane Ministerial Association and the local Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) supported Sonora’s cause. As a result, Spokane celebrated its first Father’s Day on June 19, 1910. Though there was initial hesitation the idea gained gradual popularity all over US.
Looking at the heightened popularity of Father’s Day, President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea in 1916. The movement grew for years but didn’t gain national-event status until 1924 under former President Calvin Coolidge.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father’s Day to be held on the third Sunday of June. Since then it is celebrated across the world.

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