123 Fun Facts About Father's Day

Who founded Father's Day, holding the first celebration at a Spokane YMCA in 1910?

Sonora Smart Dodd, born in Arkansas and living in Spokane, Washington, organised the first Father's Day at the city's YMCA in 1910. Anna Jarvis is the founder of Mother's Day.

Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane proposed Father's Day in 1909 after hearing a church sermon about which holiday?

Mother's Day, which Anna Jarvis had launched only the year before; Dodd told her pastor that fathers deserved the same. Her own father, a Civil War veteran, had raised his children alone.

The Civil War veteran who inspired Father's Day was a single parent raising how many children alone?

William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran, raised six children alone after being widowed — Sonora and her five brothers. Watching him do it is what prompted her campaign.

Which flower did Sonora Smart Dodd choose as the emblem of Father's Day?

Dodd chose the rose: a red rose worn for a living father and a white rose for one who had died. The carnation was already Anna Jarvis's emblem for Mother's Day.

Which president, in the election year 1972, signed the law that made Father's Day a permanent US national holiday?

Richard Nixon, on April 24, 1972, 62 years after the first celebration in Spokane. Lyndon B. Johnson had issued the first presidential proclamation honouring fathers in 1966; Nixon made it law.

On which Sunday do both the United States and the United Kingdom mark Father's Day?

Both countries keep Father's Day on the third Sunday in June. The second Sunday in May is Mother's Day in the United States.

In Spain, Portugal and Italy, Father's Day is held on 19 March — the feast day honouring which figure?

These Catholic countries attach Father's Day to 19 March, the feast of Saint Joseph, husband of Mary. Italians call it Festa del papà and the Portuguese Dia do Pai.

In Australia and New Zealand, Father's Day is celebrated on which day?

Both countries hold Father's Day on the first Sunday in September, which falls in early spring in the southern hemisphere rather than the northern-hemisphere June date.

In Germany, Father's Day (Vatertag) is observed on which Christian feast, always a Thursday?

German Vatertag shares its date with Ascension Day, a public holiday. A common custom is for groups of men to make a hiking trip pulling a Bollerwagen handcart loaded with beer, wine and regional food.

Thailand's National Father's Day is 5 December, the birthday of which king, who reigned from 1946 until his death in 2016?

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX, whose seventy-year reign made him the father of the nation in more than name. Thailand's Mother's Day is likewise the queen's birthday, 12 August.

In Brazil, Dia dos Pais — Father's Day — falls in which month?

Brazil keeps Dia dos Pais on the second Sunday in August, unlike the June date used in the United States and Britain.

Nepal honours fathers on Kushe Aunsi, a day named for which lunar phase?

Aunsi is the new moon day in the Hindu lunar calendar, so Kushe Aunsi shifts around late August or early September from year to year.

In South Korea, mothers and fathers are honoured together on 8 May under what name?

Rather than separate observances, South Korea marks Parents' Day on 8 May. It is not a public holiday, and is framed around the traditional value of filial piety.

Which president honoured Father's Day in 1916 by remotely unfurling a flag in Spokane?

Woodrow Wilson: on 18 June 1916 he pressed a button in Washington, D.C. that unfurled a flag in Spokane by telegraph. He wanted the day made official, but Congress would not act.

Grace Golden Clayton proposed a day to honour fathers in 1908 after which tragedy killed 361 West Virginia men?

The Monongah mine explosion of 6 December 1907 killed roughly 361 men, about 250 of them fathers, leaving around a thousand children fatherless; Clayton's memorial service followed on 5 July 1908.

Clayton's 1908 service was held in which West Virginia town?

Fairmont, West Virginia: Clayton's service was held at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South on 5 July 1908, two months after Anna Jarvis's first Mother's Day service in Grafton, 15 miles away.

Why was the first celebration moved from June 5, the founder's father's birthday, to the third Sunday?

The pastors of the Spokane Ministerial Alliance needed more time to prepare sermons, so the 5 June date, William Smart's birthday, slipped to the third Sunday, 19 June 1910.

Father's Day founder Sonora Smart Dodd died in 1978 at what age?

Sonora Smart Dodd was 96: born on 18 February 1882, she died in Spokane on 22 March 1978, six years after the holiday was made permanent.

Why did the founder stop promoting Father's Day in the 1920s?

She was studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, so promotion lapsed; back in Spokane in the 1930s she revived the campaign with backing from the necktie and pipe trades.

The Father's Day Council, founded in 1938 to promote the holiday commercially, was set up by whom?

New York menswear retailers: the New York Associated Men's Wear Retailers founded the Father's Day Council in 1938 to systematise the holiday's promotion; by the mid-1980s it boasted the day had become 'a Second Christmas' for men's gift industries.

In 1957 which Maine senator accused Congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while honouring mothers?

Margaret Chase Smith, Republican senator for Maine, wrote in 1957 that Congress had for 40 years honoured mothers while ignoring fathers, 'the most grievous insult imaginable'; two earlier recognition bills had already failed.

Harry C. Meek, who claimed to have invented Father's Day in 1915, led which Chicago club?

Lions Club: Harry C. Meek of the Lions Club of Chicago claimed the idea in 1915 and said the third Sunday in June was chosen because it was his birthday; the Lions styled him 'Originator of Father's Day'.

In 1924 which president recommended the nation observe Father's Day but stopped short of a proclamation?

Calvin Coolidge in 1924 recommended that the states observe Father's Day but declined to issue a national proclamation; Congress had resisted in 1916, fearing the day would be commercialised.

Which social reformer proposed a citywide Father's Day in Chicago in 1911, only to be turned down?

Jane Addams, founder of Chicago's Hull House, proposed a citywide Father's Day in 1911 but was turned down; a separate 1912 celebration was held in Vancouver, Washington, urged by Methodist pastor J. J. Berringer.

Father's Day is a recognised public holiday in which Baltic country?

Italy treated it as a public holiday until 1977.

When does the Eastern Orthodox Church keep the feast of the Forefathers?

Two Sundays before Nativity: the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers falls between 11 and 17 December and commemorates the ancestors of Christ; the Sunday of the Holy Fathers follows a week later.

International Men's Day, which honours men and boys and complements Father's Day, falls on which date?

19 November, eight months after International Women's Day on 8 March, and in many countries it shares the month with 'Movember' moustaches for men's health.

South Sudan has marked Father's Day since 2012 on which day?

The last Monday of August: South Sudan, independent from July 2011, held its first Father's Day on that day in August 2012.

Indonesia's Father's Day, first declared in 2006 in Surakarta, falls on which date?

12 November: Hari Ayah was declared in Surakarta (Solo) in 2006 and is far less celebrated than Indonesia's Mother's Day, Hari Ibu, on 22 December.

In Kazakhstan, Defender of the Fatherland Day, also called Army Day, is celebrated on which date?

7 May: Kazakhstan marks Defender of the Fatherland Day on the anniversary of the founding of its armed forces on 7 May 1992, a national holiday, while Russia keeps 23 February.

The necktie traces back to mercenaries from which country serving France in the Thirty Years' War?

Croatia: French soldiers copied the knotted neckcloths of Croatian mercenaries in the Thirty Years' War, and 'cravate' derives from 'Croat'; Louis XIV took up the fashion as a boy of seven.

Cambridge mathematicians Fink and Mao found how many aesthetically viable ways to knot a tie, out of 85?

13: Thomas Fink and Yong Mao's 1999 study counted 85 possible tie knots and judged 13 aesthetically viable, among them the four-in-hand, Pratt and Windsor.

International Necktie Day is celebrated on which date in the country where the cravat originated?

October 18: Croatia's parliament declared 18 October Cravat Day in 2008, and cities including Dublin, Como and Tokyo mark it as International Necktie Day.

The 1818 style manual Neckclothitania gave illustrated instructions for tying how many cravats?

Skill with the cravat became a mark of a Regency gentleman's elegance and wealth.

Which pastry is traditionally eaten in Italy on Festa del papà, 19 March?

Zeppole di San Giuseppe, fried or baked choux puffs filled with custard and topped with a cherry, are the traditional sweet of Saint Joseph's Day, Italy's Father's Day on 19 March.

Which lighter manufacturer introduced Father's Day to the French in 1949 for commercial reasons?

Flaminaire, a French maker of gas lighters, launched Father's Day in France in 1949 as a sales promotion; a 1952 decree made the day official on the third Sunday of June.

Which Russian leader established Father's Day on the third Sunday of October in 2021?

Vladimir Putin signed the decree on 4 October 2021 establishing Russia's Father's Day on the third Sunday of October; Belarus followed with a fixed 21 October.

In Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland, Father's Day falls in which month?

November: all five keep Father's Day on the second Sunday of November; Denmark is the Nordic exception with a fixed 5 June.

Denmark's Father's Day on 5 June coincides with which national observance?

Constitution Day: Denmark's Fars dag shares 5 June with Grundlovsdag, which marks the constitution signed in 1849, one of the few fixed-date Father's Days in Europe.

Which Baltic country's Father's Day was officially born in 2008, on the second Sunday of September?

Latvia: Tēvu diena was officially instituted in 2008 on the second Sunday of September, Soviet-era holidays having long crowded out any day for fathers.

Romania's law instituting Father's Day, passed in 2009, set it on the second Sunday of which month?

May: Law 319/2009 set Romania's Ziua Tatălui on the second Sunday of May, first celebrated on 9 May 2010, pairing it with Mother's Day on the first Sunday of May.

Which South American country celebrates Father's Day on 19 March, Saint Joseph's Day?

Bolivia keeps Día del Padre on 19 March, the feast of Saint Joseph, while Chile, Peru and Colombia use the third Sunday of June.

In 18th-century German villages, what prize did the mayor give the father with the most children?

A big piece of ham: on Ascension Day the men were carried to the village square in a wooden cart, and the mayor rewarded the father with the most children, usually with a ham.

Which two Central American countries celebrate Father's Day on the fixed date of 17 June?

Guatemala and El Salvador both fix Father's Day on 17 June, while Honduras uses 19 March and Costa Rica and Panama follow the third Sunday of June.

Poland and Nicaragua both mark Father's Day on which fixed date?

23 June: Poland has marked Dzień Ojca on 23 June since 1965, and Nicaragua fixes its Día del Padre on the same date.

Which Argentine 'Father of the Nation' inspired attempts to move Father's Day to the day he became a dad?

José de San Martín: campaigners wanted Father's Day on 24 August, the day in 1816 that his daughter Mercedes was born, making the Padre de la Patria a father himself.

Brazil's Dia dos Pais was chosen by publicist Sylvio Bhering to honour which patron of fathers?

Saint Joachim, father of the Virgin Mary and patron of fathers: Bhering launched the day in 1953 on 16 August, the saint's old feast day, before it settled on the second Sunday of August, three months after Mother's Day.

The Dominican Republic marks Father's Day on the last Sunday of which month?

July: the Dominican Republic keeps Día del Padre on the last Sunday of July, a month after most of Latin America's third Sunday of June.

Which Pacific nation makes the Monday after its August Father's Day a national holiday?

Samoa: Father's Day falls on the second Sunday of August and the following Monday is a public holiday, as is the Monday after Mother's Day in May.

Thai people traditionally give fathers which flower, seen as a symbol of masculinity?

Canna: the canna lily, dok phuttha raksa in Thai, is given to fathers as a symbol of masculinity, much as jasmine is the flower of Thai Mother's Day.

Why do many Thais wear yellow on Father's Day?

Large crowds gathered at Sanam Luang in Bangkok for the King's annual address.

Which Thai prime minister's 1980s campaign popularised Father's Day to promote loyalty to the monarchy?

Prem Tinsulanonda, prime minister from 1980 to 1988, promoted Father's Day on the King's 5 December birthday as part of a campaign to strengthen loyalty to the monarchy.

Which Philippine president's 1998 proclamation moved Mother's and Father's Day to a Monday in December?

Joseph Estrada's Proclamation No. 58 of 1998 set both Mother's Day and Father's Day on the first Monday of December, but the public kept the third Sunday of June for fathers.

Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and the UAE celebrate Father's Day on 21 June, aligning with what?

The summer solstice: 21 June, the longest day in the northern hemisphere, serves as Father's Day in Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates.

After 1979, Iran moved Father's Day to the birthday of which figure?

Ali ibn Abi Talib: since the 1979 revolution Iran has marked Father's Day on 13 Rajab, the birthday of the first Shia Imam, and Mother's Day on the birthday of his wife Fatimah.

Which Founding Father is known as the 'Father of the Constitution'?

James Madison drafted the Virginia Plan that framed the 1787 Constitutional Convention and later wrote the Bill of Rights, earning the title 'Father of the Constitution'.

In Israel, Father's Day is usually folded into Family Day on which Hebrew date?

30 Shevat: Israel's Family Day, Yom HaMishpacha, falls on 30 Shevat, the anniversary of Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold's death in 1945, and it doubles as Father's Day.

Nepal's Kushe Aunsi is popularly known as the day for doing what?

Looking at father's face: Kushe Aunsi is known as Buwa ko Mukh Herne Din, the day for seeing one's father's face; children offer tika, sweets and gifts.

New Zealand's first Father's Day was observed in 1929 at St Matthew's Church in which city?

Auckland: the first recorded New Zealand Father's Day service was held at St Matthew's Church, Auckland, in 1929; a Wellington advertisement followed in 1937 and a Christchurch Salvation Army service in 1938.

When, per folklorist Steve Roud, did Father's Day enter British popular culture 'not without opposition'?

After the Second World War, he wrote in The English Year (2006), so it is a young tradition on an old calendar. Americans had been marking it since 1910.

Which country's Social Christian party proposed its capital's patron saint's feast, 19 March, as Father's Day?

Costa Rica: its capital San José is named for Saint Joseph, so the party proposed his 19 March feast as Father's Day; the third Sunday of June was kept.

In Paraguay, Father's Day is celebrated with a traditional banquet of what?

Barbecue: Paraguayan families mark Día del Padre, the third Sunday of June, with an asado, the traditional meat barbecue shared at most celebrations.

Colombia normally holds Father's Day on June's third Sunday, but in 2022 pushed it a week later to avoid clashing with what?

An election run-off: the second round of the 2022 presidential vote fell on the usual Sunday, so Father's Day moved to 26 June. Gustavo Petro won that run-off.

Which Valencian festival burns its effigies on 19 March, Spain's Father's Day?

Las Fallas: Valencia's festival ends with the cremà on the night of 19 March, the feast of Saint Joseph, patron of carpenters, which is also Spain's Día del Padre.

In which Belgian city is Father's Day held on 19 March rather than the second Sunday of June?

Antwerp: the city keeps Father's Day on 19 March, Saint Joseph's feast, while the rest of Belgium uses the second Sunday of June.

Which Swiss canton makes 19 March an official public holiday for Father's Day?

Ticino, the Italian-speaking canton, keeps 19 March, Saint Joseph's Day, as an official public holiday and its Father's Day, while the rest of Switzerland marks the first Sunday of June.

Italy's Father's Day on Saint Joseph's Day was a public holiday until which year?

1977: Italy dropped 19 March, Saint Joseph's Day, from its list of public holidays in 1977 along with several other feasts; Festa del papà kept the date as an ordinary working day.

In the Netherlands, fathers traditionally get what on Father's Day morning?

Breakfast in bed, made by the children, as on Dutch Mother's Day; Vaderdag falls on the third Sunday of June and families usually gather for dinner at the grandparents' house.

The Seychelles celebrates Father's Day on which fixed date?

16 June: the Seychelles fixes Father's Day on 16 June rather than a movable Sunday; it is a working day, not one of the islands' public holidays.

In which animal does the male carry the fertilised eggs in a brood pouch on its tail?

Seahorse: the female deposits her eggs into the male's brood pouch, where he fertilises and carries them for two to four weeks before giving birth to fully formed fry.

Male emperor penguins incubate the single egg for roughly how long while the female feeds at sea?

Just over two months: the male balances the egg on his feet under a brood flap for about 64 days through the Antarctic winter, eating nothing, until the female returns to feed the chick.

Which Norse god is called 'All-Father', father of all gods and men?

Odin is called Alföðr, 'All-Father', in the Prose Edda, as father of the gods and, through Ask and Embla, of mankind; Thor and Baldr are his sons.

Which Titan swallowed his children Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades and Poseidon at birth?

Cronus swallowed each newborn to forestall a prophecy that a child would overthrow him; Rhea hid Zeus on Crete and gave Cronus a swaddled stone instead.

Father Time is usually shown carrying an hourglass and which farming tool?

A scythe: Father Time carries a scythe and an hourglass, the scythe borrowed from Saturn and the harvest that cuts down all things; the wings and hourglass were Renaissance additions.

On 31 December, cartoonists show Father Time handing over to which allegorical figure?

Baby New Year: the infant in a sash and top hat takes over from Father Time, who personifies the departing old year; J. C. Leyendecker's Saturday Evening Post covers popularised the pair from 1907.

The phrase 'dad joke' was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in which year?

2019: Merriam-Webster added 'dad joke' in its September 2019 update, defining it as a wholesome, pun-laden joke told to elicit a groan.

The parable of the Prodigal Son, also called the parable of the Forgiving Father, appears in which Gospel?

Luke: the parable appears only in Luke 15:11-32, told alongside the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.

Which UK campaign group scaled Buckingham Palace in 2004 with a member dressed as Batman?

Fathers 4 Justice: member Jason Hatch, dressed as Batman, climbed onto a Buckingham Palace ledge in September 2004; charges against him were later dropped.

Which 1974 Harry Chapin song about an absent father topped the Billboard Hot 100?

'Cat's in the Cradle' reached number one in December 1974, Chapin's only chart-topper; Ugly Kid Joe's 1993 cover reached number six.

Matt Groening named Homer Simpson after his own father, who was of what nationality?

Canadian: Homer Groening, a filmmaker and cartoonist, was born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, to a Mennonite family before settling in Portland, Oregon, where Matt grew up.

Dan Castellaneta's early Homer Simpson voice was a loose impression of which actor?

Walter Matthau: Castellaneta began with a loose Matthau impression in The Tracey Ullman Show shorts, then dropped it because it was hard to sustain over long recording sessions.

In which film is it revealed that Darth Vader is the hero's father?

The Empire Strikes Back (1980): Vader tells Luke 'No, I am your father' at Cloud City; former Olympic fencer Bob Anderson performed Vader's lightsaber duels.

Mrs. Doubtfire is based on a 1987 novel by which author?

Robin Williams played the divorced dad who poses as a housekeeper.

Who voices Marlin, the overprotective clownfish dad in Finding Nemo?

Albert Brooks voiced Marlin in Finding Nemo (2003) and again in Finding Dory; Alexander Gould was Nemo, Geoffrey Rush the pelican Nigel and Willem Dafoe the tank fish Gill.

Who played the father in the original 1950 Father of the Bride?

Spencer Tracy played Stanley Banks opposite Elizabeth Taylor as the bride in Vincente Minnelli's 1950 film; Steve Martin took the role in the 1991 remake.

Which actress made her film debut as the bride in the 1991 Father of the Bride?

Kimberly Williams made her film debut as Annie Banks opposite Steve Martin; Charles Shyer directed and co-wrote the 1991 remake with Nancy Meyers.

Father Knows Best began in 1949 in which medium before moving to television?

Radio: Father Knows Best ran on NBC radio from 1949 before moving to television in 1954, with Robert Young as insurance agent Jim Anderson in both versions.

Gregory Peck won his Oscar as which widowed small-town lawyer and father, voted the greatest hero in American film history in 2003?

Atticus Finch, the single father of Scout and Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). The American Film Institute ranked him above Indiana Jones and James Bond on its 2003 list of screen heroes.

Simba's father Mufasa is killed by which relative in The Lion King?

His younger brother Scar, who lets Mufasa fall into the wildebeest stampede; the filmmakers made the two lions brothers to sharpen the Hamlet-style plot.

How is Papa Smurf visibly different from every other Smurf?

He wears red pants and a red Phrygian cap.

Geppetto, the 'father' of Pinocchio, works as what?

A woodcarver: Geppetto carves the puppet from a talking piece of pine in Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, serialised from 1881 and published as a book in 1883.

Which of King Lear's daughters is disowned for saying she loves him only 'according to her duty'?

Her inheritance is divided between her two sisters.

Tevye, the father in Fiddler on the Roof, works as what in the village of Anatevka?

A milkman: Tevye delivers milk and cheese from his horse-drawn cart; the musical is based on Sholem Aleichem's Yiddish stories 'Tevye the Dairyman'.

In Death of a Salesman, how old is Willy Loman's son Biff, who has 'yet to do something meaningful'?

34: Biff, the elder son, is 34 and has drifted between farm jobs out west, while his brother Happy is 32; Arthur Miller's 1949 play is set in Brooklyn.

In Bicycle Thieves, what does Antonio's wife pawn to redeem his bicycle?

Her dowry bedsheets: Maria strips the beds and pawns the linen so Antonio can redeem the bicycle he needs for his poster-hanging job in Vittorio De Sica's 1948 film.

Whose son made his film debut playing his on-screen son in The Pursuit of Happyness?

Will Smith's son Jaden made his film debut as Christopher Jr., son of Will's character, the homeless salesman Chris Gardner, in the 2006 film.

In Field of Dreams, at what age did Ray Kinsella stop playing catch with his father?

His greatest regret is that his father died before they reconciled.

In Taken (2008), Liam Neeson's ex-CIA father flies to which European country after his daughter is kidnapped on holiday?

France: the kidnappers are Albanian traffickers, but the holiday and the hunt are in Paris. Bryan Mills delivers his famous 'particular set of skills' speech down the phone before he even boards the plane.

Which Motown act first recorded 'Papa Was a Rollin' Stone' in 1972, before the Temptations?

The Undisputed Truth cut the original in early 1972 as a minor hit; Norman Whitfield then reworked it into a 12-minute epic for the Temptations, whose single reached number one in December 1972.

Cat Stevens's 'Father and Son' appears on which 1970 album?

Tea for the Tillerman, the album that also holds 'Wild World'. The song was first written for a musical set during the Russian Revolution, which explains why the son is so keen to leave.

'Color Him Father', a 1969 tribute to a stepfather, was a hit for which group?

The Winstons' 'Color Him Father' reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 and won the Grammy for Best R&B Song; its B-side 'Amen, Brother' holds the much-sampled Amen break.

Johnny Cash's 1968 single 'Daddy Sang Bass' was written by which rockabilly pioneer?

Carl Perkins, then touring in Cash's road show, wrote 'Daddy Sang Bass', which quotes 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken?' and was a number one country hit in early 1969.

Who played the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II?

Robert De Niro played the young Vito, speaking almost entirely in Sicilian, and won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar; Marlon Brando had played the older Don in the 1972 original.

Which Star Trek actor directed the 1987 comedy Three Men and a Baby?

Leonard Nimoy directed Three Men and a Baby, the top-grossing US film of 1987, with Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson as the makeshift dads.

Cheaper by the Dozen recounts the childhood of a family of 12 in which New Jersey town?

Montclair: Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, time-and-motion efficiency experts, raised their twelve children in Montclair, New Jersey, as two of them recounted in the 1948 book.

Which Broadway record did the 1939 hit Life with Father set with 3,224 performances?

Longest-running non-musical: Life with Father ran 3,224 performances from November 1939 to July 1947, more than any straight play before or since; musicals run far longer, The Phantom of the Opera passing 13,000.

Archie Bunker was modelled partly on Alf Garnett from which BBC sitcom?

Till Death Us Do Part: Johnny Speight's BBC sitcom about bigoted Alf Garnett was the template Norman Lear adapted as All in the Family; Lear also drew on his own father, Herman.

Married... with Children dad Al Bundy sells what for a living?

Shoes: Al Bundy sells women's shoes at Gary's Shoes in a Chicago mall, a far cry from his glory days as a Polk High fullback who scored four touchdowns in one game.

Which fictional address did Archie Bunker call home in Astoria, Queens?

704 Hauser Street: the Bunkers' home in Astoria, Queens, gave its name to the 1994 spin-off 704 Hauser; All in the Family itself spun off Archie Bunker's Place in 1979.

Full House dad Danny Tanner is left raising how many daughters after his wife's death?

Three: D.J., Stephanie and Michelle, raised by Danny with help from Jesse and Joey; Bob Saget played Danny, while John Posey had the role in the unaired pilot.

Modern Family's Phil Dunphy, who sees himself as the 'cool dad', is played by whom?

Ty Burrell won two Emmys as Phil Dunphy, the realtor whose 'peerenting' style critics called a new twist on the doofus-dad stereotype.

George Jetson works for which company?

Spacely's Space Sprockets: George works for Cosmo Spacely, short in both height and temper, whose rival Spencer Cogswell runs Cogswell's Cogs.

Hank Hill of King of the Hill sells what at Strickland?

Propane: Hank is assistant manager at Strickland Propane in Arlen, Texas, selling 'propane and propane accessories'.

Bob Belcher's three children on Bob's Burgers are Tina, Gene and who?

Louise, the youngest, never without her pink bunny-ear hat; Bob is a third-generation restaurant owner and his wife Linda is the children's mother.

Which actor plays patriarch Ned Stark in the first season of Game of Thrones?

Sean Bean: Ned Stark, lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, is executed in the first season's penultimate episode, 'Baelor'.

Charles, the 'Pa' of the Little House books, was the father of which author?

Laura Ingalls Wilder: Charles Ingalls, the 'Pa' of her Little House books, was a pioneer farmer, carpenter and occasional local official; the real family's travels ended in De Smet, South Dakota.

Peter Griffin of Family Guy is voiced by which series creator?

Seth MacFarlane, who created the show, voices Peter, Stewie, Brian and Quagmire; the Griffins live in Quahog, Rhode Island, modelled on Providence.

In Roald Dahl's Danny, the Champion of the World, Danny's father poaches which birds?

Pheasants: Danny's widowed father William, who runs a filling station, poaches pheasants from Mr Victor Hazell's wood, and Danny's scheme of sleeping pills in raisins nets scores of them.

Which Philippine president proclaimed the third Sunday of June as Father's Day in 1988?

Corazon Aquino's Proclamation No. 266 of 1988 set Father's Day on the third Sunday of June, the date Filipinos kept even after a 1998 proclamation moved it to December.

When in June does Haiti celebrate Fête des pères?

Haitian families mark it with cards, gifts and a meal, often spent at the beach or in the mountains.

Which German-speaking country holds Vatertag on the second Sunday of June rather than Ascension Day?

Austria: Vatertag falls on the second Sunday of June and is not a public holiday, unlike the Ascension Day hikes across the German border.

Estonia's Isadepäev is a national holiday and an established day for doing what?

Flying the flag: Isadepäev, the second Sunday of November, is an official flag day in Estonia, as Father's Day is in neighbouring Finland.

Schools in which Argentine province mark Father's Day on 24 August under a 1982 provincial law?

Mendoza: a 1982 provincial law set 24 August as Father's Day in Mendoza's schools, honouring the day in 1816 that José de San Martín's daughter was born there; the rest of Argentina keeps June's third Sunday.