Father’s Day was founded in Spokane, Washington, by Sonora Smart Dodd, who was born in Arkansas. Its first celebration was in the Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910. Dodd’s father, the Civil War veteran, William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised his six children in Spokane. After hearing a sermon about Mother’s Day in 1909, Dodd told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them. Now the third Sunday in June is Father’s Day in countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad!
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