Father's Day is celebrated in the United States on the third Sunday in June. It was recognized by Congress in 1956, but was not established as a permanent national observance until 1972. A woman named Sonora Smart Dodd began fighting for recognition of the holiday after listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909. She organized the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on her father's birthday, June 19th, 1910.