The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honoured by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all (1) .......... the United States are given presents, treated to a dinner or otherwise made to feel special.

The (2) ......... of Father' s Day is not clear. Some say that it began with a church service in West Virginia in 1908.

Regardless of when the first true Father' s Day (3) ..........., the strongest promoter of the holiday was Mrs. Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, Washington.

Mrs. Dodd felt that she had an (4) ........... father. He was a veteran of the Civil War.

His wife had died young, and he had (5) .......... six children without their mother.

In 1909, Mrs Dodd approached her own minister and others in Spokane about having a church service (6) ........... to fathers on June 5, her father' s birthday.

That date was too soon for her minister to prepare the service, so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th. From then on, the state of Washington (7) ........... the third Sunday in June as Father' s Day.

Children made special desserts, or visited their fathers if they lived apart. States and organizations began (8) ............ Congress to declare an annual Father' s Day.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved of the idea, but it was not until 1924 that President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to" establish more intimate relations between fathers and their children" . Since then fathers have been (9) ......... and recognized by their families throughout the country on the third Sunday in June.

When children can' t visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a (10).......... card. Traditionally fathers prefer cards that are not too sentimental. Most of these cards are funny, so fathers laugh when they open them.