The original Father's Day

Father's Day exists almost all over the world to honor and commemorate fathers or forefathers. In the Roman Catholic tradition, Father's Day is celebrated on Saint Joseph's Day, though in most countries Father's Day is a secular celebration.

In the United States, the driving force behind the establishment of the celebration of Father's Day was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, as a single parent raised his six children in Spokane, Washington. She was inspired by Anna Jarvis's efforts to establish Mother's Day. Although she initially suggested June 5, the anniversary of her father's death, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday in June. The first Father's Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington.