Father's Day began in the early 20th century to compliment Mother's Day. It involves gift-giving and family oriented activities.
The first Father's Day celebration in the United States was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia. It was a church service possibly inspired by a mine explosion in a nearby town the previous December. Many of the 361 men who were killed were fathers.
Another supporter of Father's Day was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd, whose father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, raised his six children single-handedly. The first June celebration of Father's Day was on June 19, 1910.
In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended that it be made a national holiday. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson made Father's Day a holiday on the third Sunday of June, but it was not officially recognized until Richard Nixon's presidency in 1972.
The most popular slogan for Father's Day is “The World's Best Dad,” and the most precious gift a father can receive is the love and respect of his children. Being a good father is the greatest calling on earth.
