When Is Father's Day 2018?
The date to honor the most important man in your life.
getty We just celebrated Mother’s Day on May 13, and hopefully you got your mom something nice and sweet to show her how much you love and appreciate her. But when is Father’s Day 2018? Well, luckily you still have some time to get your pops a gift he’ll love, because this year, June 17th is the day to honor your dad.
Father’s Day originated in either 1908 or 1910, but there are two accounts of how the celebration was started. The first story revolves around a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, who came up with the idea to honor her father while listening to a church sermon on Mother’s Day.
This was back in 1909, so it’s clear nothing came of her idea until a year later. Dodd felt like mothers were getting all the recognition and thought fathers deserved the same amount of praise.
Dodd didn’t grow up in a conventional household where her mother took care of her and her siblings. In fact, her mom died in childbirth, delivering her sixth child. Her father, William Smart, was left to raise her and her siblings himself on their small farm in Washington state. He became a single father, and single father’s deserve some praise, right?
Though Dodd initially suggested June 5th as the day to celebrate her father, as well as other dads, the third Sunday in June became known as Father’s Day!
In the second story of how Father’s Day came to be, it was July 5th, 1908 and Grace Golden Clayton, from Fairmont, West Virginia, wanted to celebrate the fathers who were lost in a deadly mine explosion that killed 361 men. The explosion occurred seven miles from Fairmont, but the vibrations were felt a few towns over, leaving over 1,000 children without fathers in the end. Clayton chose July 5 because it was the Sunday closest to her own dad’s birthday.
In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge planned to make Father’s Day into a national holiday, but it wasn’t until 1966 when Lyndon B. Johnson used executive order to make the third Sunday in June the official date.
However, Father’s Day didn’t become a national holiday until 1972, during the Nixon presidency.
But now, thanks to over a century of planning and ideas to honor fathers, we celebrate our dads every June. Be sure to get your dad something amazing this year, whether it’s a tool box he’s been wanting, tickets to see his favorite sports team, or even just spending quality time with him.
And if you’re still having trouble deciding what to get him, there are plenty of gift ideas for you.
Samantha Maffucci is an associate editor for YourTango. In her free time, you can find her obsessing about cats, wine, and all things Vanderpump Rules.