where, when and how this global celebration arose

Dad. Daddy. Old. Dad. Father. There are many ways to call them, but all these words share the same feeling: affection. Celebrated in various countries, the Father’s day It is a way to recognize and thank the love and effort that all parents, whether biological or adoptive, have dedicated to their children.

On this day, gifts, drawings, calls, visits and breakfasts in bed multiply throughout the world. But, How did this celebration come about? Why is Father’s Day celebrated? Here we tell you its story, full of data and curiosities.

He Father’s day has his origin to beginning of the 20th century in Washington, United States. In 1909, a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, inspired by a sermon on Mother’s Day, wanted to pay tribute to her father, William Smart. William was a Civil War veteran who, after the death of his wife during childbirth with their sixth child, raised his children alone on a rural farm. Sonora proposed celebrating Father’s Day on June 5, in honor of her father’s birthday, marking the first Father’s Day in 1909.

Although the idea of ​​celebrating fathers caught on quickly, the date was not set immediately. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Father’s Day a national celebrationbut it was not until 1966 that the president Lyndon Johnson officially set the date for the third Sunday in June.

Sonora Smart Dodd managed to get the June 19, 1910 the first Father’s Day will be celebrated, after submitting your application to the Spokane Ministerial Alliance. From then on, many countries joined the tradition of celebrating parents on that same date, recognizing the importance and sacrifice of parents in raising their children.

In the Argentina he Father’s day It is celebrated on the third Sunday of June each year, as in the United States and many other countries, however this was not the original date proposed in the country.

It was in 1958 that the National Council of Education established the August 24 as Father’s Day in honor of General Don José de San Martínthe “Father of the Country”, since that was the date of the birth of his daughter, Merceditas, in 1816 (Mercedes Tomasa de San Martín y Escalada).

A few years later, already in the ’60s, the day was passed to third Sunday in June, it is said, because there were few times that the original date coincided with a Sunday. As the years went by, giving gifts and crafts became more and more popular.

The recognition of the paternity It is one of the most recent celebrations in the country, after Mother’s Day and Children’s Day, but as happened with those celebrations, it is now an immovable date.

Although many European countries such as France and England, as well as most Latin American countries, including Peru, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, they adopted the American date to celebrate Father’s Daynot all countries in the world celebrate it on the same day or in the same way.

Brazil celebrate the Father’s day the second Sunday in August. In El Salvador and Guatemalathis holiday takes place on June 17. Nicaragua celebrates it on June 23, while in the Dominican Republic It is commemorated on the last Sunday of July. In Uruguay, The celebration takes place on the second Sunday of July.

In nations with a European Catholic tradition, such as Spain, The celebration takes place on March 19, which coincides with the Day of Saint Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus. This same date is shared by Bolivia, Croatia, Honduras, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland. On the other hand, in GermanyFather’s Day is celebrated 40 days after Easter, this year it took place on May 9.

In RussiaFebruary 23 is the chosen date, known as Defenders of the Fatherland Day, in honor of the soldiers who were fathers and fought in World War II. Australia and New Zealand They celebrate the first Sunday in September, while in South Korea, the celebration is on March 8, where the tradition is to give a carnation.