Dads get their due: How Father's Day became national holiday — 58 years after moms honored

Tragic origin

A West Virginia church had the first recorded event honoring fathers on July 5, 1908. It was a one-time Sunday service in memory of 362 men who died in an explosion the previous December at the Fairmont Coal Company mine in Monongah, West Virginia.

Support in Spokane

The first "Father's Day" was celebrated June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington, after Sonora Smart Dodd worked to establish an official day of recognition for male parents to mirror Mother's Day. Dodd, one of six children raised by a widower, went to local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers and government officials to get support and the establishment of the statewide holiday.

GIFTS FOR DADS: 17 gifts for dads who don't want anything

GIFTS FOR NEW DADS: 14 thoughtful Father’s Day gifts for new dads

Prompted by Coolidge

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge encouraged other state governments to observe Father's Day.

Nixon's signature

In 1972, President Richard Nixon made Father's Day a national holiday, signing a congressional resolution giving Dad his due 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother's Day a holiday.

Different day

In other countries, especially in Europe and in Latin American countries, fathers are honored on St. Joseph's Day, a traditional Catholic holiday that falls on March 19.

Source: HIstory.com

Contact Gadsden Times reporter Donna Thornton at 256-393-3284 or donna.thornton@gadsdentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Father's Day: Five facts about history, tradition of honoring Dad