When is Father's Day? All you need to know about the holiday's long history (2024)

Father's Day is fast approaching, and while barbecues are being planned, let's take a minute to admire the long history the holiday has.

While Mother's Day has been around for 100 years, Father's Day is having its 58th official celebration this year. It may have been celebrated before, but it was not officially made a holiday until 1966 while Mother's Day became a holiday in 1914.

Here is more on the day celebrating fathers across the nation.

When is Father's Day?

Father's Day is on Sunday, June 16 this year. The holiday falls on the third Sunday of June every year.

Is Father's Day a federal holiday?

Even though Father's Day is not a federal holiday, it is celebrated across the nation.

There are 11 federal holidays in the United States. Those remaining in 2024 include:

• Juneteenth(June 19).
• Independence Day(July 4).
• Labor Day(Sept. 2).
• Columbus Day(Oct. 14).
• Veterans Day(Nov. 11).
• Thanksgiving(Nov. 28).
• Christmas(Dec. 25).

When was the first Father's Day?

According toUSA TODAY, the first Father's Day was celebrated in 1910, but it took more than 60 years for it to become anofficial holiday.

The first Father's Day was celebrated in 1910, but the country was slow when it came to celebrating fathers on a particular day.

Father's Day was first recognized in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson, who made Mother's Day an official holiday in 1914. Then, President Calvin Coolidge urgedstates to observe the holiday in 1924.

Finally, in 1966,PresidentLyndon B. Johnson made the first presidential proclamationthat honored fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.

Who invented Father's Day? Why do we celebrate it?

Sonora Smart Dodd, a woman in Spokane, Washington is recognized as the founder of Father's Day. Dodd petitioned local churches, the YMCA and shopkeepers to observe Father's Day – a Mother's Day counterpart that would celebrate dads as she was raised by her widowed father.

Thanks to her efforts, Washington became the first state to celebrate Father's Day on June 19, 1910, according toHistory.com.

USA TODAY contributed to this report