Father's Day

Father's Day is a holiday honoring one's father, or relevant father figure, as well as fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. The single most common date among world countries is the third Sunday of June, which was founded in the state of Washington, United States, by Sonora Smart Dodd in 1910. The day is held on various dates across the world, and different regions maintain their own traditions of honoring fatherhood. In some Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. Sikhs celebrate Father's Day (ਪਿਤਾ ਦਿਵਸ) on 29 December, birthday of Guru Gobind Singh. In some Islamic countries, it is set following the months of the Islamic calendar. Father's Day is a recognized public holiday in Lithuania and some parts of Spain and was regarded as such in Italy until 1977. It is a national holiday in Estonia, Samoa, and equivalently in South Korea, where it is celebrated as Parents' Day. The holiday complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Mother's Day and, in the United States, Siblings Day, and Grandparents' Day. For centuries, the Eastern Orthodox Church has appointed the second Sunday before Nativity as the Sunday of the Forefathers to commemorate the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh, starting with Adam and emphasizing the patriarch Abraham, to whom God said, In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed This feast can fall between 11 and 17 December. This feast includes the ancestors of Mary, mother of Jesus and various prophets. A customary day for the celebration of fatherhood in Catholic Europe is known to date back to at least 1508. It is usually celebrated on 19 March, as the feast day of Saint Joseph, who is referred to as the fatherly Nutritor Domini ("Nourisher of the Lord") in Catholicism and "the putative father of Jesus" in southern European tradition. This celebration was brought to the Americas by the Spanish and Portuguese.