A Day for Dads!

If you had to guess, when would you say that the world's first Father's Day greeting appeared? Chances are, you'd pick sometime in the 20th century. And you'd be sort of right, but the real answer is that the first Father's Day message was created a lot earlier than that. Nearly 4,000 years ago, a young Babylonian named Elmesu carved a message for his father in clay. The message was a wish for his father to have good health and a long life.

It's not surprising that Elmesu wanted to celebrate his father. Fathers throughout history have comforted, protected, taught and inspired their children. They deserve a day that celebrates them. No one made a serious effort to set aside such a day, though, until a woman named Sonora Dodd came up with the idea in 1909. Mrs. Dodd's father, William Jackson Smart, had raised her and her five siblings after their mother died in childbirth. Listening to a Mother's Day sermon at a church near her family's home in eastern Washington State, Mrs. Dodd thought about the sacrifices her father had made for his children and the fine job he had done in raising them. Because her father had been born in June, she decided to encourage the churches in her area to honor fathers in June. Through her efforts, the first Father's Day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington, in June 1910.

Similar celebrations started up around the country over the next few years, and President Calvin Coolidge was said to support the idea of a nationwide Father's Day holiday. But although Congress passed several resolutions in support of the holiday, it did not become an official U.S. holiday until 1972, when then-President Nixon issued a proclamation declaring the third Sunday in June as Father's Day in the United States.

Officially or unofficially, though, great fathers - and stepfathers, grandfathers, adoptive fathers, and other men involved in rearing children - have been worthy of celebrating for centuries. Be sure to celebrate yours on June 16th this year. Happy Father's Day!