Happy Father’s Day to all the dads and granddads reading!

Father’s Day is the third Sunday in June every year in the UK. However, it isn’t as historic as you might think! The event probably originated sometime after World War II – likely to honour the fathers who fought.

Despite around half of countries (91 out of the 195!) celebrating the event on the same day as the UK, the date in other countries varies from 23^rd February in Russia and Belarus through to 26^th December in Bulgaria. Sonora Smart Dodd is credited with the inception of Father’s Day. Of Spokane, Washington, Dodd was the daughter of American Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart. After attending a sermon about Mother’s Day, Dodd felt fatherhood deserved the same dedicated day. After Dodd approached the Spokane Ministerial Alliance, they dubbed the third Sunday in June Father’s Day and first observed the day in 1910.