Father's Day is believed to be thousand years old. This festival was celebrated in Washington for the first time. It is a day to honor fathers and celebrate fatherhood. It was during a 1909 sermon about Mother's Day when Sonora Smart Dodd became inspired to create Father's Day. She played an important role in creating a day for acknowledging the role played by a father in life of his child. She wanted to express that how thankful she was to her father for taking care of her after the death of her mother. However, you can find more dates and stories related to Father's Day.

Origination of Father's Day

The origin of Father's Day can be traced back to approximately 4000 years ago when a young boy named Elmusu carved a message on a clay and wished peaceful and enjoyable life to his Babylonian father. Though both of them fail to carve any impression in the pages of history, but the tradition of expressing gratitude to father continued.
In a most interesting incidence, Dr. Robert Webb of West Virginia is believed to have conducted the first Father's Day service in 1908 at the Central Church of Fairmont.

History of Father's Day in USA

Comically, it is known that Mother's Day has finally led to the celebration of Father's Day. In the year 1909, a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd in Spokane, Washington got an idea of celebrating Father's Day while heeding to the Mother's Day sermon. Her father, Mr. Henry Jackson Smart, was a civil war veteran and her mother had passed away while giving birth to her sixth baby. Her father played the role of both mother and father in her life. His selfless love and affection impelled her daughter to celebrate Father's Day. Sonara has chosen his father's birth date to celebrate this occasion that was on 5th June but the date was postponed till 19th of June due to shortage of preparation. She suggested red roses for respecting living father and white roses for honoring deceased father.

The concept of Father's Day celebration was spreading year by year and in 1924 the President Calvin Coolidge supported the day and exclaimed the every third Sunday of the month June as Father's Day. To make the day remarkable, National Father's Day Committee was set up in New York City. This day was made recognizable by passing a joint resolution in the congress in the year 1956. However, it took many years before the President Richard Nixon in 1972 signed the presidential proclamation and embarked third Sunday of June as the permanent national observance day for the Father's Day celebration.

Though some people acknowledge Mrs. Charles Clayton of West Virginia as the founder of Father's Day but historians still recognize Mrs. Dodd as one of the great promoter of Father's Day. His efforts eventually resulted into national celebration of Father's Day.