Did you know this about Father's Day?

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Added: Sun. Jun 15, 2008 8:59pm

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The inspiration for Father's Day came from an original Mr. Mom – William Jackson Smart from Spokane, Wash., who raised six children after his wife died. After hearing a Mother's Day sermon in 1909, Smart's daughter encouraged churches to add a Father's Day observance. The idea caught on, but it wasn't until 1972 that President Richard Nixon signed it into law.

Father's Day lags Mother's Day in one other way – it became an official holiday 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson's 1914 order honoring motherhood.

Almost 160,000 of the nation's 64 million fathers are stay-at-home dads, according to U.S. Census Bureau 2006 statistics.

Father's Day is the third most popular day for dining out, after Valentine's and Mother's days, according to the National Restaurant Federation.

Until recently, Father's Day was No. 1 in one category: most collect telephone calls placed in the United States. These days, cell phones and free long-distance have made that record a relic.