Countdown to
Father's Day
A day for the fathers who shaped us
Today is Father's Day.
230 days until Father's Day, on Sunday, June 20, 2027.
Father's Day is Sunday, June 20, 2027. Happens the third Sunday of June.
Father’s Day arrives on the third Sunday of June in the United States, a floating date that lands somewhere between June 15 and June 21 each year. It is a quieter counterpart to Mother’s Day — less commercial pageantry, more backyard grills and phone calls home — but its path onto the calendar was surprisingly long and contested.
The origins of Father’s Day
The earliest documented Father’s Day service took place in Fairmont, West Virginia, on July 5, 1908, when Grace Golden Clayton asked her church to honor the 362 men killed in a nearby coal-mining explosion the previous winter. The idea did not spread beyond that town.
The version that stuck began two years later in Spokane, Washington. Sonora Smart Dodd, raised along with her five siblings by a widowed Civil War veteran, heard a Mother’s Day sermon and wondered why fathers had no equivalent. She proposed June 5, her father’s birthday; local pastors wanted more time to prepare, and so the first Father’s Day was held on June 19, 1910.
National recognition came slowly. President Calvin Coolidge encouraged states to observe the day in 1924, and Lyndon B. Johnson issued a proclamation fixing it to the third Sunday of June in 1966. It was not until 1972 that President Richard Nixon signed the law making Father’s Day a permanent national observance — more than six decades after Spokane’s first celebration.
How Father’s Day is observed
Today the day is marked less by ceremony than by small gestures: a card, a shared meal, a necktie no one strictly needs. Barbecues and cookouts are a fixture, as are outings built around a father’s interests, from fishing to a round of golf. Sonora Smart Dodd promoted wearing a rose for the occasion — red for a living father, white in memory of one who has died — a custom some families still keep.
The June date is far from universal. Spain, Portugal, and Italy traditionally honor fathers on St. Joseph’s Day, March 19, while Australia and New Zealand celebrate on the first Sunday of September. Where the American model took hold, though, the third Sunday of June remains the day the countdown points to.
👔 Fun facts about Father's Day
- The earliest documented Father's Day service was held in Fairmont, West Virginia, on July 5, 1908, to honor 362 men killed in a nearby coal-mining disaster the previous winter.
- The version that endured began in Spokane, Washington, where Sonora Smart Dodd organized the first celebration on June 19, 1910, to honor her father, a Civil War veteran who raised six children alone.
- More than six decades passed between that first celebration in 1910 and 1972, when President Nixon signed the law making Father's Day a permanent national observance.
- In Spain, Portugal, and Italy, fathers are traditionally honored on St. Joseph's Day, March 19, rather than in June.
- Australia and New Zealand celebrate Father's Day on the first Sunday of September, not in June.
Upcoming Father's Day dates
| Date | Days away |
|---|---|
| 230 days | |
| 594 days | |
| 958 days | |
| 1,322 days | |
| 1,686 days |
How people mark Father's Day
- Giving cards and handwritten notes
- Neckties and other clothing gifts
- Backyard barbecues and cookouts
- Outings built around a father's hobbies
- Wearing a rose — red for a living father, white in memory
- Family meals and breakfast in bed
Frequently asked
What day is Father's Day?
In the United States, Father's Day falls on the third Sunday of June, so the exact date shifts each year between June 15 and June 21.
Why is Father's Day celebrated in June?
Sonora Smart Dodd, who campaigned for the holiday in Spokane, first proposed June 5, her father's birthday. Local pastors wanted more time to prepare, so the first celebration was held later that month, on June 19, 1910.
Is Father's Day a federal holiday?
No. Although President Nixon made Father's Day a permanent national observance in 1972, it is not a federal public holiday, so offices, banks, and mail service operate normally.
When did Father's Day become official?
President Calvin Coolidge encouraged states to observe it in 1924, and Lyndon B. Johnson fixed it to the third Sunday of June in 1966, but it did not become a permanent national observance until Nixon signed it into law in 1972.