Father’s Day is just around the corner. It is the day to celebrate fatherhood and the unconditional love they shower on us. Several countries across the globe celebrate the day on the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day. Many celebrate the day by buying gifts, flowers or greeting cards and by planning a special meal for their dads. Ever wondered that the person behind the origin of Father’s Day is actually a woman? Yes. Her name is Sonora Smart Dodd, a woman from the United States and the daughter of American Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart.
Sonora was the daughter of American Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart and Ellen Victoria Cheek Smart. Her mother passed away while giving birth to her sixth child. Sonora helped her father raise her five brothers, including her new infant brother. She held her father in great esteem. Once while hearing a church sermon about Mother’s Day, she strongly felt fatherhood needed recognition as well. She got in touch with the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and suggested her father’s birthday June 5 as Father’s Day. However, after a lot of discussions, the Alliance chose third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. The first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910 in Spokane, Washington. And soon the idea became popular and people across the globe started celebrating the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day. She passed away on March 22, 1978, at the age of ninety-six, in Washington.
