Each year, Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June.
As millions of Americans prepare to honor dads and father-like figures throughout the country, FOX Business looked into the holiday’s origins, the amount of money that’s spent on Father’s Day activities and key stats on fatherhood in America.
Here are a few number-focused facts in honor of Father’s Day.
The first Father’s Day on record dates back to June 19, 1910, according to History.com. The day was reportedly started by Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington.
Dodd was the daughter of a widower, and she felt moved to start a day that honored fathers after seeing the success Mother’s Day had when it was established three years prior.
Father's Day is celebrated by millions of Americans. (iStock)
The state of Washington celebrated the nation’s first Father’s Day.
Sixty-two years after the nation’s first Father’s Day observance, President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation that permanently made Father’s Day the third Sunday in June, according to the Library of Congress.
President Lyndon Johnson made a declaration stating the same six years before Nixon, but he didn’t sign it into law.
The U.S. Census reported there were 72.2 million fathers aged 15 and over in 2014, according to the agency’s Men’s Fertility and Fatherhood report.
Families find ways to celebrate Father's Day each year on the third Sunday of June. (iStock / iStock)
Around two million men were considered single fathers living with children under the age of 18 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census.
The U.S. Census estimated that there were 204,000 stay-at-home dads in 2021.
More than 72 million American men are fathers, according to U.S. Census estimates. (iStock)
In 2019, there were approximately 73 million children in the U.S., according to data from the Children’s Defense Fund.
Father’s Day spending for 2023 is projected to reach $22.9 billion, according to forecast data published by the National Retail Federation (NRF).
That estimate is up 14.5% from the NRF's Father's Day spending forecast from 2022.
Millions of ties are reportedly sold around Father's Day. (iStock / iStock)
About 100 million ties are sold on Father’s Day each year, according to Infoplease – an online encyclopedia, almanac and atlas.
Each Father’s Day, there are about 72 million cards exchanged, according to Hallmark, a leading greeting card company.
The card manufacturer says Father’s Day is its fourth-largest card-sending holiday.
Father's Day celebrants typically give dads gifts as a way to say thank you. (iStock)
Americans who plan to celebrate Father’s Day will spend an average of $196.23 on gifts, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2023 projection.
That estimate is up $24.44 from the Father's Day gifting forecast the NRF projected last year.