You can thank this guy for getting a new neck tie each June.
Father’s Day, the much-needed counterpart to Mother’s Day, had its inception in the early 20th century. The idea was inspired by Anna Jarvis’s successful promotion of Mother’s Day in 1908.
Enter Sonora Smart Dodd, who thought, “Hey, dads deserve some love too!” in 1909. She was motivated by her admiration for her own father, a Civil War veteran who single-handedly raised six children. The first Father’s Day was celebrated in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910.
Fast forward, President Woodrow Wilson gave it a nod in 1916, but it was sporadically observed. Then President Calvin Coolidge jumped on the bandwagon in 1924. Despite their efforts, it didn’t stick as a national holiday. It wasn’t until 1966 when Lyndon B. Johnson issued a proclamation designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Then along came Richard Nixon, who in 1972 signed it into law, probably needing to bank some good PR amid his scandals. So, thank Nixon for Father’s Day – guess he did something useful before Watergate went down!
