Father's Day

When is Father's Day in 2013
Italy	March 19
Spain	March 19
Portugal	March 19
Germany	May 09
Lithuania	June 02
Switzerland	June 02
Denmark	June 05
Austria	June 09
Belgium	June 09
Argentina	June 16
Canada	June 16
Chile	June 16
France	June 16
Hungary	June 16
Ireland	June 16
Netherlands	June 16
United Kingdom	June 16
USA	June 16
Colombia	June 16
Malta	June 16
Australia	September 01
New Zealand	September 01
Luxembourg	October 06
Estonia	November 09
Finland	November 09
Iceland	November 09
Norway	November 09
Sweden	November 09

Father's Day is a celebration that honours the role of fathers and forefathers. It is a modern holiday, though the ancient Romans did have a tradition of honouring fathers, every February, but only those who had deceased.

Around the world, Father's Day is celebrated on different dates though the day is celebrated in a similar manner, usually involving giving gifts to fathers and family activities.

In Spain, Italy and Portugal, Father's Day is celebrated on 19 March, which is the Feast of St. Joseph who is the patron saint of fathers.

In Germany, Father's Day is celebrated on the same date as Ascension Day.

In the USA, the first noted Father's Day celebration was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia. It was first celebrated as a church service at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, now known as Central United Methodist Church.

It is said that Grace Golden Clayton suggested the service to the pastor as a memorial after a mine explosion in nearby Monongah had killed 361 men the previous winter. Another explanation for the service was Mothers' Day, which had been celebrated for the first time two months prior in Grafton, a town that was 15 miles away.

An alternative claim for the inventor of Father's Day is the president of the Chicago branch of the Lions' Club, Harry Meek. He is said to have celebrated the first Father's Day with his organization in 1915; and the day that they chose was the third Sunday in June, which was the closest Sunday to Meek's birthday.

A key figure in the establishment of Father's Day was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd, whose father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, as a single parent reared his six children. Mrs Dodd initially suggested June 5, the anniversary of her father's death as a date for Father's Day. It is claimed she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make the arrangements, and thus the celebration was put back to the third Sunday of June.

The first Father's Day in June was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, WA. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended the day as a national holiday.

Did you know? There are more reverse charge telephone calls on Father's Day than on any other day in the year.

President Lyndon Johnson made Father's Day a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June in 1966, though the day was not officially recognised until 1972, during the presidency of Richard Nixon.

Over 100 million Father’s Day cards will be expected to be given this year in the United States, making Father’s Day the fifth-largest card-sending occasion.
Source: Hallmark research

50% of all Father’s Day cards are purchased by sons or daughters. Nearly 20% of cards are bought by wives for their husbands; the remaining cards are bought for grandfathers, sons, brothers, uncles and "someone special."

• Mother's Day
• Mothering Sunday

Powered by