The first Father's Day celebration was held in Spokane, Washington, in 1910.
Sonora Smart Dodd organized the event after hearing a sermon about the newly established Mother's Day. She wanted to honor fathers, especially her own father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran who raised six children as a widower.
The Spokane celebration took place on June 19, 1910, at the local YMCA. It is widely recognized as the first Father's Day observance in the United States, although earlier proposals and commemorations also existed elsewhere.
Father's Day did not become an annual nationwide holiday immediately. Presidents later supported observances, and the United States formally recognized it as a permanent national holiday in 1972.