Happy Father's Day, Sunday-June 20, 2021!
What is Father's Day and how did it begin?
The first Father's Day had its roots in a West Virginia church on July 5, 1908 for an event that was held in memory of the 362 fathers who died in the "...previous December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah, but it was a one-time commemoration and not an annual holiday," according to History.com's article "Father's Day 2021."
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It was not until Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington who was raised by a widower tried to get the same recognition for Fathers for a holiday like Mother's Day. She was successful. Washington state celebrated the first Father's Day on June 19, 1910. Gradually, the idea to honor fathers spread nationwide. "In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson honored the day by using telegraph signals to unfurl a flag in Spokane when he pressed a button in Washington, D.C. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father’s Day," noted the same article. In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation declaring "Father's Day" a federal holiday according to History.com and Congress passed legislation officially making Father's Day a national holiday the same year as reported from WCNC Television in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Father's Day is celebrated annually in the United States and other nations on the third Sunday of June This year it is Sunday, June 20, 2021.
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For more information about Father's Day please see the following websites: