Father’s Day is a day set apart to celebrate fatherhood, recognize the influence of fathers in our homes and society, and foster paternal bonds. It is also celebrated to honor and commemorate our fathers and forefathers. While it is celebrated in the U.S. on the third Sunday of June, in many other countries the officially recognized date of Father’s Day varies. It is believed that Father’s Day was first observed on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington, through the efforts of Sonora Smart Dodd, a Christian woman and the daughter of American Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart. Sonora’s mother died when she was age 16, and she wanted a day that would commemorate and honor fathers like her own, who had raised her and five other children. Once she began soliciting the idea of an official Father’s Day, she met some opposition and even derision, but she persevered. A bill was introduced in Congress in 1913, and in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson spoke at a Father’s Day celebration in Spokane, Washington, wanting to make it an official holiday, but Congress still resisted. In 1924, Calvin Coolidge became involved, and in 1930 a national committee was formed by various trade groups in an effort to legitimize the holiday. The battle continued, and in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson made a proclamation for the third Sunday of June to be Father’s Day. Finally, it was made an official national holiday when President Nixon signed a similar proclamation in 1972.