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Father’s Day

Father’s Day is not a Federal holiday, but it is a popular day to celebrate. And for good reason. Father’s Day is a day to honor the men who raised you, yes, even grandfathers, step-fathers, and other important male role models in your life.

Father’s Day is celebrated every year on the third Sunday in June. Other countries also celebrate Father’s Day, but many fall on different dates, and may be observed in different ways.

Father’s Day will be observed on Sunday, June 16, 2024

Father's Day

Best Ways To Celebrate Father’s Day

Common Ways To Celebrate Father’s Day

  • Buy him flowers (or a plant) and a greeting card.
  • Get him a gift like fishing gear, sporting goods, gift cards, or the traditional tie or slippers.
  • Make him a special brunch or dinner.
  • Take him out for brunch or dinner.
  • Attend a church service together.
  • Do his chores for him.
  • Bake him his favorite dessert.

More Great Ways To Celebrate Father’s Day

Father’s Day Fun Facts

  • Father’s Day gained significant popularity during World War II, when advertisers claimed that celebrating the day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort.
  • Before Dodd’s Father’s Day campaign, an unofficial Father’s Day service was held on July 5, 1908, honoring the 362 men killed in an explosion at the Fairmont Coal Company.
  • Dodd’s first Father’s Day celebration was held in the state of Washington.
  • Roses were an official symbol for Father’s Day during early celebrations.
  • There was a movement in the 1920s and 30s to eliminate Mother’s and Father’s Day and combine them in a single celebration, Parent’s Day.
  • Father’s Day is the 4th best selling day for greeting cards.
  • In Thailand, Father’s Day is celebrated on the King’s Birthday, December 5th.
  • In Germany, Father’s Day is called Mannertag and usually involves traditional food and a lot of drinking.

History Of Father’s Day

Father’s Day was first celebrated in June 1910, a few years after the first Mother’s Day was celebrated. But it didn’t earn official National Holiday status until 1972.

Anna Jarvis hosted the first successful Mother’s Day celebration in 1908. Sonora Smart Dodd used it as inspiration to start her own observance honoring male parents, as the daughter of a widower who raised her and her five siblings. Like Jarvis, Dodd earned financial support backing the idea and successfully hosted the first Father’s Day celebration on June 19, 1910.

The holiday spread slowly to other states and communities, and several Presidents urged celebration for the day. But it wasn’t until 1972 that Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making Father’s Day an official federal holiday on the third Sunday of June.

Mother’s Day caught on quickly, thanks to it’s commercialization by florists, retailers, and greeting card companies. But Father’s Day was more difficult, as flowers weren’t commonly gifted to men. Instead, retailers began marketing goods like ties, hats, sports equipment, and pipes.


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Heidi Deal
Heidi Deal is the author of the Newcomers Handbook to Living In Los Angeles & Orange County, and a children’s book author specializing in history and human rights. When she's not writing you can find her solo hiking and going on new adventures with her kids and pup.