~THE STORY OF FATHER'S DAY from The World Book Encyclopedia
Father's Day is celebrated in the US on Sunday, June 15, 2008. Other Countries celebrate throughout the year. Father's Day, contrary to popular misconception, was not established as a holiday in order to help greeting card manufacturers sell more cards. In fact when a "father's day" was first proposed there were no Father's Day cards!
Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a "father's day" in 1909. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife (Mrs. Dodd's mother) died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.
The first Father's Day was observed on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. At about the same time in various towns and cities across American other people were
beginning to celebrate a "father's day." In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Finally in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day. Finally, in 1972, President Richard M. Nixon signed Father's Day into law.
~FLOWER OF THE DAY: Roses are the symbol of the day--red for those fathers with us and white for remembrance of those fathers gone ahead...
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