In many countries, Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June.
The June observance developed from the Father’s Day tradition promoted by Sonora Smart Dodd in Spokane, Washington. The first celebration there occurred on June 19, 1910, and organizers selected the third Sunday because Dodd’s preferred date, June 5, left too little time for preparation.
The U.S. pattern later became firmly established. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a proclamation recognizing the third Sunday of June, and in 1972 President Richard Nixon signed legislation making the observance permanent in the United States.
June is not universal. Father’s Day dates vary by country: some places use March 19, Saint Joseph’s Day, while others observe it on different fixed dates or Sundays. Thus, June is the canonical answer for the widespread third-Sunday formulation, not a claim that every country celebrates on the same day.