The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special. .
The origin of Father's Day is not clear. Some say that it began with a church service in West Virginia in 1908. Others say the first Father's Day ceremony was held in Vancouver, Washington.
Regardless of when the first true Father's Day occurred, the strongest promoter of the holiday was Mrs. Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, Washington. She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.
Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to 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.
After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. In 1909, Mrs. Dodd approached her own minister and others in Spokane about having a church service dedicated to fathers on June 5, her father's birthday.
That date was too soon for her minister to prepare the service, so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th. From then on, the state of Washington celebrated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Children made special desserts, or visited their fathers if they lived apart.
In early times, wearing flowers was a traditional way of celebrating Father's Day. Mrs. Dodd favored the red rose to honor a father still living, while a white flower honored a deceased dad. J.H. Berringer, who also held Father's Day celebrations in Washington State as early as 1912, chose a white lilac as the Father's Day Flower.
States and organizations began lobbying Congress to declare an annual Father's Day. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea, but it was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to "establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations."
Since then, fathers had been honored and recognized by their families throughout the country on the third Sunday in June. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day and put the official stamp on a celebration that was going on for almost half a century.
When children can't visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card. Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental. Most greeting cards are whimsical(奇形怪狀的，異想天開的)so fathers laugh when they open them. Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child needed Dad.
父親節(father's day)簡介
6月的第三個星期日是父親節。相對于母親節，父親節是人們比較陌生的一個節日，是1910年在美國華盛頓州的士波肯市由杜德太太發起的。
而我國的父親節起源，要追溯到國民時代。民國三十四年的八月八日，上海聞人所發起了慶祝父親節的活動，市民立即響應，熱烈舉行慶祝活動。抗日戰爭勝利后，上海市各界名流仕紳，聯名請上海市政府轉呈中央政府，定“爸爸”諧音的八月八日為全國性的父親節。
雖然今日一般人對于父親節的慶祝活動，不像對母親節一般的重視與熱鬧，但是上帝在圣經中教導我們對于父母的關愛卻是一致的，當母親含辛茹苦地照顧我們時，父親也在努力地扮演著上帝所賦予他的溫柔角色;或許當我們努力思考著該為父親買什么樣的禮物過父親節之時，不妨反省一下，我們是否愛我們的父親，像他曾為我們無私地付出一生呢?
父親節節日的起源
世界上的第一個父親節，1910年誕生在美國，是由住在美國華盛頓州斯波坎(Spokane) 的布魯斯多德夫人 (Mrs. Dodd，Sonora Louise Smart Dodd) 倡導的，多德夫人的母親在生育第六個孩 子時，因難產而死，多德夫人的父親威廉斯馬特先生 (Mr. William Smart) 曾參加過南北戰爭，他在妻子過世后，獨自一人在華盛頓州東部的一個鄉下農場，承擔起撫養、教育六個孩子的重任，多德夫人在家中排行老二，亦是家里唯一的女孩，女性的細心特質，讓她更能體會父親的辛勞，斯馬特先生白天辛勞地工作，晚上回家還要照料家務與每一個孩子的生活，經過幾十年的辛苦，兒女們終于長大成人，當子女們盼望能讓斯馬特先生好好安享晚年之際，斯馬特先生卻因多年的過度勞累于1909年辭世。
1909年斯馬特先生辭世之年，當多德夫人參加完教會的母親節感恩禮拜后，她特別想念父親，多德夫人心中明白，她的父親在養育兒女過程中所付出的愛和艱辛，并不亞于任何一個母親，多德夫人將她的感受告訴給教會的瑞馬士牧師 (Rev. Rasmus)，希望能有一個特別的日子，紀念全天下偉大的父親，她的這一想法得到了牧師的贊許，同時得到了各教會組織的支持，多德夫人隨即寫信向市長與州政府表達了自己的想法，并建議以她父親的生日——每年的6月5日作為父親節，斯波坎市市長與華盛頓州州長公開表示贊成，州政府采納這一建議的同時，把節期改在6月的第三個星期日，1910年6月19日多德夫人所在的華盛頓州斯波坎市，舉行了全世界的第一次父親節慶祝活動，在差不多的時間里，美國各地其它城鎮的人們也開始慶祝“父親節”。
在父親節這天，人們選擇特定的鮮花來表達對父親的敬意和思念，人們采納了多德夫人的建議，佩戴紅玫瑰向健在的父親表示愛戴，佩戴白玫瑰則表達對亡父的悼念，這種習俗一直流傳至今，起初父親節的日期各不相同，且有的地方用蒲公英作為父親節的象征，有的地方則用襯有一片綠葉的白丁香向父親表示敬意。
1924年美國總統柯立芝表示支持設立全國性父親節的建議，1966年約翰遜總統簽署總統公告，宣布當年6月的第三個星期天為美國的父親節，1972年美國總統尼克松簽署正式文件，將每年6月的第三個星期日定為全美國的父親節，并成為美國永久性的紀念日。
中國節日起源
父親節父親節父親節并非“泊來”的節日，中國也有自己的父親節，中國的父親節起源，要追溯到民國時期，1945年8月8日，上海發起了慶祝父親節的活動，市民立即響應，抗日戰爭勝利后，上海市各界名流，聯名請上海市政府轉呈中央政府，定“爸爸 ”諧音的8月8日為全國性的父親節，在父親節這天，人們佩帶鮮花，表達對父親的敬重和思念。
父親節這天，我們在思考、我們在表達對父母的敬愛之心是無可比擬的，當母親含辛茹苦地照顧我們時，父親也在努力地扮演著上蒼所賦予他的負重角色，當我們努力思考著該為父親買什么樣的禮物過父親節之時，不妨反省一下我們是否愛我們的父親?像他一樣曾為我們無私地付出一生呢。