Celebrating Our Dads on Father’s Day – June 18th

This Sunday, June 18th, is Father’s Day here in the U.S.A.

Father’s Day is an annual holiday on which we honor fathers and celebrate fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. 

In the Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on March 19th (Saint Joseph’s Day) since the Middle Ages.

This celebration was brought by the Spanish and Portuguese to Latin America, where it is often still observed on March 19th — though some countries in Europe and the Americas have adopted the U.S. date, which is the third Sunday of June.

Father’s Day was not celebrated in the U.S. outside of Catholic traditions, until the 20th century.

As a civic celebration in the United States, it was inaugurated in the early 20th century to complement Mother’s Day; celebrating fathers and male parenting.

After many and varied attempts to establish Father’s Day as a legal holiday, In 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.

Six years later — in 1972, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law.

The Green Bay News Network salutes all Fathers, Grandfathers, Step-Fathers, Foster Fathers, Godfathers, and all men who fill a fatherly role in our lives.

Happy Father’s Day!