Father’s Day 2023: Date, History, Importance and why we celebrate Father’s Day
Happy Father’s Day 2023 Date: It is believed that the day was started by an American woman who was raised by her father after she lost her mother.
Happy Father’s Day 2019: Fathers play an important role in a child’s life – they stand by them though thick and thin and help them achieve the best in life. To celebrate this special bond between children and their father, Father’s Day is celebrated every year in the third week of June. This year, it will be celebrated on June 16 (Sunday) in India.
History of Father’s Day
It is believed that the day was started by an American woman who was raised by a widower. Sonora Smart Dodd was born in Sebastian County, Arkansas in 1982, and her mother died when she was only 16. It was Dodd’s father, William Smart, who raised her and five brothers after their mother died.
Dodd was bothered that there was no day to honour her father who raised the children alone wanted the celebration to be held on June 5, her father’s birthday. But it was later pushed to Sunday, June 19, 1910.
Europeans countries celebrate Father’s Day on St Joseph’s Day to recognise the special role of the male parent in a child’s life. source
Event
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Father’s Day (People also refer it as Father day and Fathers day, फादर्स डे)
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Father’s Day Date 2023
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Day
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Sunday
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Father’s Day 2024 Date
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June 16, 2024
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Happy Fathers Day 2023 WishesIt’s really an incredible gift to have such a fantastic father like you. Here’s to a terrific Father’s Day, Dad!
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The true superheroes are the fathers. Superheroes, even if they might not have abilities, have an indomitable heart and soul. Happy Father’s Day 2023.
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Wishing you an enjoyable Father’s Day, Dad! Thanks for always sticking up for me and keeping me from having to deal with my mother’s reprimands. I really love you!
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Thanks for spending Father’s Day with me, Dad. Regardless of who I am now, I owe everything to you, therefore I’m sure you are watching me and smiling from heaven right now!
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“The greatest mark of a father is how he treats his children when no one is looking.” (Dan Pearce)
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“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.” (Sigmund Freud)
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“There’s something like a line of gold thread running through a man’s words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years, it gets to be long enough for you to pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself.” (John Gregory Brown)
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“Dads are like chocolate chip cookies; they may have chips or be totally nutty, but they are sweet and make the world a better place, especially for their children.” (Hilder Lytle)
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“A father is the one friend upon whom we can always rely. In the hour of need, when all else fails, we remember him upon whose knees we sat when children, and who soothed our sorrows; and even though he may be unable to assist us, his mere presence serves to comfort and strengthen us.” (Emile Gaboriu)
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Father’s day is observed every year in more than 111 countries worldwide.
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Sonora Smart Dodd founded Father’s Day in the year 1910.
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The first father’s day was observed on June 19, 1910.
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Father’s Day is celebrated as Parents’ Day in South Korea.
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Father’s day is observed on different dates around the world.
Father’s Day: 5 things you didn’t know you didn’t know about the holiday
Father’s Day is upon us once again this Sunday, June 17, and while you’ve hopefully already bought dear old Dad a cool gadget or witty card to mark the occasion (and if you haven’t, stop reading this and go get one!), you may have some questions about the holiday. Do we have Hallmark to thank (or curse) for it? Which came first, Father’s Day or Mother’s Day? Read on for answers to those questions and more.
There are two stories about the origins of Father’s Day
The lore goes that the holiday is the brainchild of two women. The first, Grace Golden Clayton of West Virginia, suggested to her pastor in 1908 that the church honor fathers, an idealikely inspired by a mining disaster in nearby Monongah the year before that killed 362 men and left 1,000 widows and children.
The other woman, more widely recognized as the creator of Father’s Day, was Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington. Dodd and her five siblings were raised by a single father in a time when that was largely uncommon, and in 1910 she started a petition to recognize the holiday.
The first piece of legislation regarding the day was a 1913 bill by Congress specifying that “[t]he third Sunday in June is Father’s Day.” While its popularity waxed and waned over the years due to — no joke — tie manufacturers, it slowly gained popularity from the 1930s to the ’60s. (Read my colleague Phil Edwards’s piece “How the necktie industry saved Father’s Day” to get the whole fascinating story.)
In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation to mark the celebration of Father’s Day, and in 1972, President Richard Nixon finally signed it into law.
Father’s Day is now celebrated in many other countries, including Russia, Thailand, and Australia, though not always on the same day as in America and not always in the same fashion. For instance, the Telegraph notes that in Germany, “[in] certain regions it is traditional for groups of men to go into the woods with a wagon of beer, wines and meats. Heavy drinking is common and, according to official statistics, traffic-related accidents spike on this day.”
Wait, is it spelled Father’s Day or Fathers’ Day?
It’s definitely Father’s Day, with the apostrophe before the S. If you want to dig into the grammar of it, Dictionary.com offers this rather touching explanation:
With the apostrophe before the s, Father’s Day “belongs” to each individual father. If the apostrophe fell after the s, the meaning slightly changes. That would be a holiday “belonging” to all fathers as a collective.
In other words, Father’s Day is a time to celebrate the greatness of your own dad, and to hell with the rest of them. (More broadly, if you’re confused by apostrophes in general, Vox’s German Lopez has a great explainer.)
If you don’t care about grammar in the slightest, here’s the simplest explanation: Though founder Dodd spelled the name Fathers’ Day on her original petition to recognize the holiday, the 1913 congressional bill spelled it Father’s Day. And thus it has remained.
Father’s Day in pop culture
There are at least two (very different) movies about the holiday. The Father’s Day of 1997 stars Robin Williams and Billy Crystal as two strangers who go on a quest to find a boy after their mutual informs them both, separately, that the kid is their son. Roger Ebert was not a fan, calling it “a brainless feature-length sitcom with too much sit and no com.”
The Father’s Day of 2011 is an “American-Canadian action-horror comedy” about a quest for revenge against a serial father killer, which has a surprisingly high 71 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
But if you’re looking for something more family-friendly, perhaps featuring Julia Roberts, we assume it’s only a matter of time until someone takes a cue from the late “holiday-themed supervillain” Garry Marshall and unleashes a hellish vision of Father’s Day upon the world.
Mother’s Day still trumps Father’s Day — in retail terms, at least
Motherhood may have certain detrimental effects on women’s earnings potential, but when it comes to commercial holidays, the moms have a clear lead. Though greeting card companies and sporting goods stores now rake in profits every third Sunday in June, there are a few pieces of evidence for Father’s Day being the smaller of the two parent-focused holidays.
One is that Mother’s Day has just been around longer — as Edwards explains, the mother of Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, created the holiday in 1908, and President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday six years later. Father’s Day, meanwhile, didn’t become an official holiday until 1972, courtesy of Nixon.
It could also reflect a difference in home life structure. According to the Census Bureau, there were 1.9 million single fathers with kids under 18 in 2015, versus 9.9 million single mothers. And in two-parent families where one parent stays home with the kids, there’s a big discrepancy in who it is: The census found that among married couples, there were 5.2 million stay-at-home moms in 2015, versus just 199,000 stay-at-home dads.
The sales data bears this out: The National Retail Federation estimates that Mother’s Day this year resulted in $23.1 billion in spending, while Father’s Day–related sales are expected to be around $15.3 billion — not exactly chump change, but a significantly smaller sum nonetheless.
What should I get my dad for Father’s Day?
Here’s how Father’s Day gift-giving breaks down, according to National Retail Federation data:
If you’re under 10, congrats — not only do you have excellent reading skills and taste but you’re one of the lucky few who can get away with presenting a novelty neckwear item of some sort (Tabasco ties were my go-to). Otherwise, you could take your dad to the movies; per CNN, Father’s Day weekend was the fourth-highest-grossing box office weekend in 2015. You could send him a card (like 74 million people do each year, according to Hallmark), though if you haven’t already put one in the mail, an e-card might be more realistic this year.
Regardless of what you get him (or don’t get him), your dad probably just wants your love, so spend time with him if you can or give him a call if you can’t. Unless, of course, he’s one of the 14 percent of dads Zagat surveyed who just want to be left completely alone on Father’s Day. source
Father’s Day in the United States is on the third Sunday of June. It celebrates the contribution that fathers and father figures make for their children’s lives.
Its origins may lie in a memorial service held for a large group of men, many of them fathers, who were killed in a mining accident in Monongah, West Virginia in 1907.
Is Father’s Day a Public Holiday?
Father’s Day is not a federal holiday. Organizations, businesses and stores are open or closed, just as they are on any other Sunday in the year. Public transit systems run to their normal Sunday schedules. Restaurants may be busier than usual, as some people take their fathers out for a treat.
Legally, Father’s Day is a state holiday in Arizona. However, because it always falls on a Sunday, most state government offices and employees observe their Sunday schedule on the day.
What Do People Do?
Father’s Day is an occasion to mark and celebrate the contribution that your own father has made to your life. Many people send or give cards or gifts to their fathers. Common Father’s Day gifts include sports items or clothing, electronic gadgets, outdoor cooking supplies and tools for household maintenance.
Father’s Day is a relatively modern holiday so different families have a range of traditions. These can range from a simple phone call or greetings card to large parties honoring all of the ‘father’ figures in a particular extended family. Father figures can include fathers, step-fathers, fathers-in-law, grandfathers and great-grandfathers and even other male relatives. In the days and weeks before Father’s Day, many schools and Sunday schools help their pupils to prepare a handmade card or small gift for their fathers.
Background and symbols
There are a range of events, which may have inspired the idea of Father’s Day. One of these was the start of the Mother’s Day tradition in the first decade of the 20th century. Another was a memorial service held in 1908 for a large group of men, many of them fathers, who were killed in a mining accident in Monongah, West Virginia in December 1907.
A woman called Sonora Smart Dodd was an influential figure in the establishment of Father’s Day. Her father raised six children by himself after the death of their mother. This was uncommon at that time, as many widowers placed their children in the care of others or quickly married again.
Sonora was inspired by the work of Anna Jarvis, who had pushed for Mother’s Day celebrations. Sonora felt that her father deserved recognition for what he had done. The first time Father’s Day was held in June was in 1910. Father’s Day was officially recognized as a holiday in 1972 by President Nixon.
About Father’s Day in Other Countries
Read more about Father’s Day.
Father’s Day Observances
Year | Weekday | Date | Name | Holiday Type | Area |
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2018 | Sun | Jun 17 | Father’s Day | Observance | |
2018 | Sun | Jun 17 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2019 | Sun | Jun 16 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2019 | Sun | Jun 16 | Father’s Day | Observance | |
2020 | Sun | Jun 21 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2020 | Sun | Jun 21 | Father’s Day | Observance | |
2021 | Sun | Jun 20 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2021 | Sun | Jun 20 | Father’s Day | Observance | |
2022 | Sun | Jun 19 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2022 | Sun | Jun 19 | Father’s Day | Observance | |
2023 | Sun | Jun 18 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2023 | Sun | Jun 18 | Father’s Day | Observance | |
2024 | Sun | Jun 16 | Father’s Day | Observance | |
2024 | Sun | Jun 16 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2025 | Sun | Jun 15 | Father’s Day | Observance | |
2025 | Sun | Jun 15 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2026 | Sun | Jun 21 | Father’s Day | Observance | |
2026 | Sun | Jun 21 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2027 | Sun | Jun 20 | Father’s Day | Observance | |
2027 | Sun | Jun 20 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2028 | Sun | Jun 18 | Father’s Day | State Holiday | Arizona |
2028 | Sun | Jun 18 | Father’s Day | Observance |
While we diligently research and update our holiday dates, some of the information in the table above may be preliminary. If you find an error, please let us know.