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Father’s Day
By peace | May 21, 2006
Father’s Day is a holiday to celebrate fatherhood and parenting by males, just as Mother’s Day celebrates motherhood. Typically giving gifts to fathers and celebrating as a family is the main event of the day. Father’s Day is celebrated at differing times through the year.
Father’s Day exists almost all over the world to honor and commemorate fathers or forefathers. In the Roman Catholic tradition, Father’s Day is celebrated on Saint Joseph’s Day, March 19, though in most countries Father’s Day is a secular celebration.
In recent years, retailers have adapted to the holiday by selling male-oriented gifts such as hardware and tools.
Countries that observe Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June include Argentina, Canada, Chile, Cuba, France, Hong Kong S.A.R., India, Pakistan, Ireland, Japan, Macao S.A.R., Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela.
Countries with other celebration dates:
- Austria: second Sunday of June
- Australia: first Sunday of September
- Belgium: St Joseph’s day (March 19), and the second Sunday of June (Secular)
- Brazil: second Sunday of August
- Bulgaria: June 20
- Denmark: June 5 (also Constitution Day)
- Dominican Republic: last Sunday of July
- Estonia: second Sunday of November
- Finland: second Sunday of November
- Germany: Ascension Day
- Italy: March 19
- Lithuania: first Sunday of June
- New Zealand: first Sunday of September
- Norway: second Sunday of November
- Poland: June 23
- Portugal: March 19
- Russia: February 23 (Defender of the Fatherland Day, a military holiday, seen by many as a men’s day)
- South Korea: May 8 (Parents’ Day)
- Spain: March 19
- Sweden: second Sunday of November
- Thailand: December 5 (birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej)
- Taiwan: August 8
In the United States, the driving force behind the establishment of the celebration of Father’s Day was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, as a single parent raised his six children in Spokane, Washington. She was inspired by Anna Jarvi’s efforts to establish Mother’s Day. Although she initially suggested June 5, the anniversary of her father’s death, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday in June. The first Father’s Day was celebrated on 19 June 1910 in Spokane, Washington.
Unofficial support from such figures as William Jennings Bryan was immediate and widespread. Woodrow Wilson was personally so feted by his family in 1916, and Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday in 1924. The all-male U.S. Congress, however, was mindful that passing a measure so favorable to males could be seen as a conflict of interest. In 1966, Lyndon Johnson made Father’s Day a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The holiday was not officially recognized until the presidency of Richard Nixon in 1972.
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