Why Father's Day Became a National Holiday — and When It's Celebrated

Father's Day in the United States is celebrated on the third Sunday of June, and this year it falls on the summer solstice. The holiday has a long history before becoming nationally recognized.

Mother's Day was officially recognized in 1914, while Father's Day took decades longer. The first known Father's Day service was held in Fairmont, West Virginia, in 1908 after a mining disaster.

Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, championed the idea in 1910, inspired by Mother's Day. Congress finally made Father's Day a national holiday in 1972, after President Lyndon Johnson's 1966 executive order.

Today, Father's Day honors fathers and father figures across the country.