Father's Day is a celebration inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting, and to honor and commemorate fathers and forefathers. Father's Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving, and special dinners to fathers and family-oriented activities. In 2008, it was celebrated on June 15 in many countries. It originated in Spokane, Washington.fact: date=August 2008 In 2009, it will be celebrated on June 12 in many countries.

Although Ms. Dodd of Washington was the first to solicit the idea of having a Father's Day observance (while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in church), the very first Father's Day observance didn't transpire for many years. That first observance was held in a church in Fairmont, West Virginia. "Dr. Robert Webb of West Virginia is believed to have conducted the first Father's Day service on July 5, 1908 at the Central Church of Fairmont".

Spelling

Although normal English punctuation guidelines indicate that the holiday should be spelled "Fathers' Day" (as it is a plural possessive), common usage dictates that the ostensibly singular possessive "Father's Day" is the preferred spelling.

Dates

The officially recognized date of Father's Day varies from country to country. This section lists some significant examples, in order of date of observance.

*In China (under the title of Republic of China, still under Nationalist rule at the time), Father's Day on August 8 was first held in Shanghai in 1945.

Argentina

Father's Day on Argentina is celebrated on the third Sunday of June, but there have been several attempts to change it to August 24 to honor the day when the "Father of the Nation" José de San Martín became a father.

On 1953 it was proposed to the General Direction of Schools of Mendoza Province the celebration on all educational stablishments of a Father's Day on August 24 in honor of José de San Martín, and it was celebrated for the first time on 1958, but it was not included on the scholar calendar due to the pression of several groups, and it started being celebrated on the third Sunday of June.

The schools on the Mendoza Province kept celebrating Father's Day on August 24, and, on 1982, the Provincial Governor passed a law declaring Father's Day on the province to be celebrated on August 24.

On 2004, several proposals to change the date to August 24 were presented to the argentinian Camara de Diputados on a single unified project. It was approved, and it was passed to the Senate of Argentina for final review and approval. The Senate changed the proposed new date to the third Sunday of August, and scheduled the project for approval. However, the project was never treated on the Senate on the planned session, which caused its failure.