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Written by Randal C. Hill Randal C. Hill

For Sonora Smart Dodd, attending a Methodist church service in Spokane, Washington, proved to be life-changing.

On that particular Sunday in 1909, the minister based his sermon on the newly established Mother’s Day celebration. But Dodd felt that dads, too, should have a special day set aside in their honor. (Her father, a widowed Civil War veteran, had singlehandedly raised six children, with Dodd being the only girl.)

Dodd spent the next year petitioning her local community and, later, her state government. Washington state celebrated its first official Father’s Day on June 19, 1910.

Over the years, the celebration spread from state to state until President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance for America’s fathers in 1972.

How much do you know about Father’s Day? Try your hand at this multiple-choice quiz.

 

1. Over the years, the most popular Father’s Day gift has been
   1. candy
   2. a necktie
   3. flowers
   4. golf balls
      
      
2. The official Father’s Day flower is the
   1. orchid
   2. carnation
   3. hibiscus
   4. rose
      
      
3. What percentage of Americans celebrate Father’s Day?
   1. 58
   2. 65
   3. 76
   4. 81
      
      
4. Today’s average age of first-time fathers is
   1. 24
   2. 26
   3. 28
   4. 30
      
      
5. One in _____ American homes has no father there.
   1. three
   2. four
   3. five
   4. six
      
      
6. In India, a man became the world’s oldest first-time dad at
   1. 83
   2. 88
   3. 94
   4. 96
      
      
7. Americans spend ____ less on Father’s Day than they do on Mother’s Day.
   1. 25%
   2. 29%
   3. 32%
   4. 38%
      
      
8. How many American dads are single?
   1. 1 million
   2. 2 million
   3. 3 million
   4. 4 million
      
      
9. In Let’s Make Love (1960), Marilyn Monroe sings “My Heart Belongs to Daddy.” What is unusual about this?
   1. She never knew who her father was.
   2. She always hated the song.
   3. Her mother forced her to sing it.
   4. A professional singer’s voice was used instead.
      
      
10. The Guinness Book of Records claims that a Moroccan sultan fathered how many children?
    1. 492
    2. 687
    3. 833
    4. 1,042

 

Answer key:

1. b
2. d
3. c
4. d
5. a
6. d
7. d
8. b
9. a
10. d

• Randal C. Hill
• A Father’s Day Quiz