Happy Father's Day - How it all Started

Happy Father's Day to all Dads                                  

Many scholars believe that Father's Day is almost 4,000 years old and can be traced back to Babylon when a young boy called Elmesu carved Father's Day wishes on a card made from clay - wishing his father good health and a long life.

However, Father's Day as we know it today, was actually inspired by a woman - Mrs John B Dodd of Spokane, Washington in 1909.   Her mother died in childbirth and her father was left to raise 6 children and so grateful was she, she wanted a day to celebrate fathers.   She even dedicated a flower for Father's Day - the rose.   Red roses for living fathers and white roses for fathers who have died.

She began circulating petitions and within a year, Spokane agreed to honour fathers on the 3rd Sunday in June.   Cities and towns across the USA also began to celbrate Father's Day too.

In 1924, President Coolidge supported the idea of Father's Day and in 1966, President Johnson declared Father's Day a national holiday and it was made official by President Nixon in 1972.

Now Father's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world - a day for children (of all ages) to thank their fathers and pay tribute to them.