Five Facts: The origin of Father’s Day

TNT Five Facts | June 17, 2018

Father's Day is usually celebrated on the third Sunday of June each year. This year, Father's Day is celebrated on June 17, 2018 in most countries, including India. In the mere 24 hours that we officially honour dads and father-figures, here our five facts about the origin of the holiday:

1. Scholars believe that  the tradition of Father's Day can be traced in the ruins of Babylon.

They have recorded that a young boy called Elmesu carved a Father's Day message on a card made out of clay nearly 4,000 years ago. Elmesu wished his Babylonian father good health and a long life.

2. The modern version of Father's Day celebration, however, originated in United States of America

The tradition later spread to countries around the world.

3. The idea of Father's Day celebration originated in the mind of a young girl named Sonora Louise Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington

When Sonora listened to Mother's Day sermon in 1909, she pondered if there is a day to honor mother then why not for father? Sonora felt strongly for fathers because of the affection she received from her own father Mr William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran. Sonora's mother died while childbirth when she was just 16. Mr Smart raised the newborn and five other children with love and care. Inspired by Ms Anna Jarvis's struggle to promote Mother's Day, Ms Dodd began a rigorous campaign to celebrate Father's Day in US. The Spokane Ministerial Association and the local Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) supported Sonora's cause.

4. While the first Father's Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day much later in 1966.

5. Father's Day also has an official flower.

A red rose can be worn on the lapel if one's father is living, and a white rose is worn in his memory if he has passed away.