This year's Father's Day, on 20 June, will be extra special, as 2010 marks the centenary of this annual tradition. While listening to a Mother's Day church service in Washington state, USA, in 1909, a young woman called Sonora Smart Dodd decided to instigate a similar day for dads. Mothering Sunday had been part of the secular and Christian calendar for centuries, but there was no equivalent festival to celebrate fathers.
After the death of his wife in childbirth, Sonora's father had raised six children alone, and she wanted to find a way to thank him for his love and selflessness, honour the sacrifices he had made, and tell him how special he was. So, the following year, Father's Day was born and, over the decades, grew into the annual event we know and celebrate the world over.
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