Father's Day (United States)
A bill to accord national recognition of the holiday was introduced in Congress in 1913. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane to speak in a Father's Day celebration and wanted to make it official, but Congress resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized. US President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that the day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation. Two earlier attempts to formally recognize the holiday had been defeated by Congress. In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith wrote a proposal accusing Congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while honoring mothers, thus "[singling] out just one of our two parents". 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, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972.
Father's Day
In [[New Zealand]], Father's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of September and it is not a public holiday. Fathers' Day seems to have been first observed at [[St Matthew's, Auckland|St Matthew's Church]], [[Auckland]] on 14 July 1929 and first appeared in commercial advertising the following year. By 1931 other churches had adopted the day. In 1935 much of Australia moved to mark the day at the beginning of September and New Zealand followed, with a [[Wellington]] advert in 1937, a [[Christchurch]] Salvation Army service in 1938 and in Auckland from 1939.