Father’s Day History & Facts
We all know that Father’s Day is observed on the third Sunday in June in many countries around the world. We know it’s a perfect occasion to honor fathers, husbands and father figures but is there anything more to the holiday? What do we ACTUALLY know about this wonderful day honoring the most important men in our lives?
Father’s Day History Facts:
- The person who invented the concept of Father’s Day is Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington whose mom died in childbirth and her father had raised his six children all by himself. Dodd was at a church service thinking about how grateful she was for her father when she came up with an idea of celebrating Father’s Day, which would be similar to Mother’s Day but celebrated in June – her dad’s birthday month.
- Originally Dodd named the holiday Fathers’ Day (in plural possessive form), because it was “a day belonging to all fathers.” Somewhere along the way, the punctuation was changed and the holiday is now known as “Father’s Day” (in singular possessive form).
- Father’s Day is the fourth biggest day for sending greeting cards, after Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Greeting cards make up the number one gift item for fathers on this day.
- More than one third of Father’s Day cards are funny in nature.
- Rose is the official flower for Father’s Day. Wearing a red rose on your clothes signifies a living father, while white one represents
deceased father. - One of the most common Father’s Day gifts associated with the holiday comprises of a necktie, followed by flowers.
- Female shoppers spend approximately 50% more than men on gifts for their dad.
Father’s Day in numbers:
- The first Father’s Day celebration was on June 19, 1910 in Spokane, Washington.
- It wasn’t until 1972 that Father’s Day became an official national holiday in U.S. when president Nixon signed it into law.
- Now Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June in over 50 countries around the world.
- There are over 70.1 million dads in the U.S. About a third of them are married with kids under 18.
- More than 214,000 American men are stay-at-home dads.
- 2 million fathers are single.
- The world’s oldest father is an Indian former wrestler and farmer Ramjit Raghav who has been claimed to have his first child with his wife at age 94.
- The world’s youngest father is an 11-year-old boy from Auckland, New Zealand, who has had a child with the 36-year-old mother of his school friend.
- The most prolific father of all time is the last Sharifian Emperor of Morocco, Mulai Ismail (1646-1727). In 1703 he had at least 342 daughters and 525 sons and by 1721 he was reputed to have 700 male descendents.
Unusual Father’s Day Celebration Around the world:
- In Thailand Father’s Day is celebrated on the same day as the birthday of the King, beloved by all Thai people. Thais celebrate the holiday by giving their father or grandfather a Canna flower, which is considered to be a masculine flower in Thailand. There is also a tradition of wearing yellow on this day (the official color of King’s birthday).
- Father’s day in Argentina is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. However there have been many unsuccessful attempts to change the date to August 24th when the first child of Jose de San Martin, the “Father of the Nation”, was born.
- In Denmark Father’s Day is celebrated on June 5th. It coincides with Constitution Day, which is a public holiday celebrating the signing of the Danish constitution of 1849.
- Father’s Day in Germany also referred to as “Gentlemen’s day” is annually celebrated on Ascension Day which is the Thursday forty days after Easter. Traditionally, men celebrate it together by drinking lots of alcohol and pulling a wagon around town.
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