More and more young people from China begin to celebrate (庆祝) Father's Day. They send fathers presents, or invite them for a nice dinner. But do you know how Father's Day started?
While Mrs. Dodd, from America, was listening to a talk about Mother's Day in a church in 1909, she had an idea of having Father's Day to honour her father, William Smart. Mr. Smart used to be a soldier. His wife died when she gave birth to her sixth child. Mr. Smart had to raise his six children alone. They lived a hard life. After Mrs. Dodd grew up, she wanted to thank her father for what he had done for them. She wrote a letter to a church and asked for the third Sunday in June to be Father's Day. The church agreed with her.
The first Father's Day was celebrated on June 19th, 1910 in Washington. Children made special desserts and did other things to make their fathers happy. In 1924, President (总统) Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day. People all over the country began to celebrate Father's Day. Finally, in 1996, President Lyndon Johnson made the third Sunday in June Father's Day.
