To all those with fathers and stepfathers, and the mothers who have to do double duty, I want to wish you a wonderful day today!
Celebrated on the third Sunday in June, Father's Day had a couple of parts to its origin. One of the origins of the tradition was from a memorial service for a group of miners who died in an accident in Monongah, West Virginia in 1907.
In 1910, Sonora Smart Dodd, daughter of a Civil War veteran, founded Father's Day in Spokane, Washington. She was inspired to find it by a sermon about Mother's Day. She wanted there to be a companion celebration for fathers and fatherhood. She originally intended it to be on June 5, her father's birthday. However, a celebration was unable to be prepared in time, so it became the third Sunday in June.
The celebration was not a big success at first, but Dodd would not give up. She had help from various trade groups, like men's retailers. It would lead the holiday to be derided at first as just a stunt to rack up sales, but the trade groups got the last laugh as the holiday ended up growing in popularity.
In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson would declare the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon would sign an official Father's Day into law. You can find out more about its history right here.
Today, I treated my dad to dinner at the Chinese buffet in town. It was wonderful. The ham was really good.
Happy Father's Day, everyone. Families should be together to celebrate it, no matter where they came from.
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