Father's Day 2023: History and significance of this special day

Father’s Day is always celebrated on the third Sunday in June. Father’s Day 2023 is on Sunday, June 18.  The day celebrates father figures, among them biological fathers, stepfathers, foster fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers.

Father’s Day is quickly approaching, and many of us are looking for that gift that will let our fathers know how much we appreciate them. While Father’s Day is a holiday with which almost everyone is familiar, few people know the interesting history behind this annual holiday.

The nation’s first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in the state of Washington. However, it was not until 1972—58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official—that the day honoring fathers became a nationwide holiday in the United States. The campaign to celebrate the nation’s fathers did not meet with the same enthusiasm–perhaps because, as one florist explained, fathers haven’t the same sentimental appeal that mothers have.

In 1924 US Pres Calvin Coolidge gave his support to the observance, and in 1966 Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson issued a proclamation that recognized the day. It became a national holiday in 1972, when Pres. Richard Nixon signed legislation designating the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day.