Father's Day Around The World In 2024
On May 20, 2024
Father’s Day is a special day that celebrates the dedication and love of fathers worldwide. Parents play an important role in raising their children; dads are their anchor and guide. They are the strong pillars of family, providing support and stability and showing great resilience, unwavering love, and commitment. All over the globe, Father’s Day is celebrated in the same way by gifting something special and doing fun activities, but it is held on different dates. Read below to know more about it.
Why Is Father’s Day Celebrated?
The inspiration for this day goes back to the 1900s. A woman called Sonora Smart Dodd’s mother passed away during childbirth. Her siblings and Sonora were raised by William Smart, her widowed father, who was a war veteran. To show her gratitude for everything her father did to her and her siblings she initiated Father’s Day and was celebrated on June 19th. This date was chosen as it falls on the same month as her father’s birthday. Though this idea was not initially accepted in the United States, Dodd persisted. Along with support from local and national groups, she finally succeeded in her efforts, President Nixon officially declared in 1972 that every year third Sunday of June would be celebrated as Father’s Day.
Since then, this day has gained popularity not just in America but in many other countries too. It is now adopted by different traditions and cultures and despite the different dates it is celebrated in, the significance remains the same. To express gratitude and acknowledge the important role fathers play in nurturing and raising their children.
Various Versions Of The History Of Father’s Day
The first Father’s Day was celebrated at Willaims Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South as a church service in 1908. It was on the 5th of July in Fairmont, West Virginia, USA. It was commemorated. It is believed that it was suggested to the pastor by Grace Golden Clayton to hold a service as a memorial after there was a mine explosion in which 361 men died in Monongah the previous year. Another suggestion is that Mother’s Day was celebrated as a service two months before it in Grafton, and hence Father’s Day service too was held.
Another claim is that the Father’s Day inventor is Harry Meek, the Lion Club’s President of Chicago. He is said to have held a celebration for Father’s Day for the first time in 1915 and the day that was chosen was the third Sunday of June which was the Sunday close to Meek’s birthday.
However, it is also said that the key person responsible for the Father’s Day celebration was Sonora Smart Dodd, whose father, William Jackson Smart, was a war veteran and a single parent who raised six children singlehandedly. Dodd suggested that June 5th be celebrated as Father’s Day, and since she did not give enough time to the organizers to make arrangements, the celebration happened on the Sunday of the third week of June.
Officially, the first Father’s Day was celebrated on 1910, June 19th in Spokane, WA. President Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday for the USA in 1924. However, it was only during President Nixon’s time that it was officially recognised as a holiday in 1972.
Father’s Day: When Is It Celebrated?
As mentioned earlier, Father’s Day is celebrated on different dates in different countries. The most popular date is the 3rd Sunday of the month of June. This was the day when Father’s Day was celebrated for the first time in the United States of America and since then many other countries have also adopted the same date.
However, in countries like Portugal, Spain and Italy it is celebrated on the Feast of St Joseph, (patron saint of fathers) which falls on March 19th every year. Germany too, celebrates on the same date and calls it Ascension Day. In Scandinavia, the Father’s Day celebration was adopted in the 1930s using the same date as the Americans. But in 1949, the Scandinavian countries moved it to November and celebrated every second Sunday of November as Father’s Day. This was done for multiple reasons one of which was so that it was done six months after Mother’s Day and also to boost sales in a quiet period before Christmas. The only exception is Denmark which forgot to publish to the press and the public about the date change so Father’s Day is still celebrated in June on Constitution Day.
Taiwan celebrates Father's Day on the 8th of August in Chinese eight is ‘Ba’ and the father is called ba-ba colloquially. China too, celebrated it on the same date, but was later moved to June, the third Sunday of the month as in the USA.
Does Father’s Day Come On The Same Date Every Year?
Father’s day does not fall on the same day every year. While it is celebrated on the third Sunday of June every year, it does not happen on the same date as July 4th or December 25th. In 2024, Father's Day is on June 16th a Sunday, and in 2023, it was done on June 18th. Next year, Father’s Day will happen sooner and falls on June 15, Sunday, 2025.
Conclusion
Father’s Day is celebrated in over 110 countries on different dates. However, the third Sunday of June is the most popular day to celebrate.
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