What’s the History of Father’s Day, and When Is Father’s Day 2023?
Father’s Day is coming up, and while this holiday may simply seem like the equivalent of Mother’s Day for dads, the two holidays have very different origins. We’re looking into some of the most common questions you may have about Father’s Day: When is Father’s Day 2023, and what is the history of Father’s Day?
When Is Father’s Day 2023?
Father’s Day falls on the third Sunday in June. This year, Father’s Day is on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
Related: 55 Best Father's Day Quotes
What Is the History of Father’s Day?
Father’s Day began in 1910, two years after the first official celebration of Mother’s Day in the U.S. The holiday began thanks to a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, who had been raised with her siblings by her widower father, Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart. Inspired by how her father rose to the challenge of parenting alone, Sonora Smart Dodd thought there should be a special day to recognize dads as well as moms, according to History.com.
Related: 50 Ideas to Celebrate Father's Day
She campaigned local government officials, churches and other local organizations, and in 1910, Washington celebrated its first official Father’s Day on June 19, marking the first Father’s Day celebration in the country.
Over the next several decades, Smart Dodd continued her campaign to make Father’s Day a nationally recognized holiday. Multiple presidents, including Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge, recognized the significance of the day, but it wasn’t until 1970 that Congress passed a joint resolution that would authorize the president to designate the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.
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“The President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling on the appropriate Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on such day, inviting the governments of the States and communities and the people of the United States to observe such day with appropriate ceremonies,” the resolution read, “and urging our people to offer public and private expressions of such day to the abiding love and gratitude which they bear for their fathers.”
Related: What to Write in a Father's Day Card
Like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day is not an official federal holiday, but it is a recognized public observance in the U.S.
Need gift ideas? Check out unique Father's Day gifts, gifts for new dads, and gifts for grandpas and your father-in-law.
