Father's Day Is Sunday, So Here Are A Few Facts About It

It's been a national holiday since 1966, but how much do you know about Father's Day other than neckties, tools, gadgets, and nose-trimmers often make up a big part of it?

I'm the father of two wonderful human beings, and that's my favorite and proudest achievement on my life résumé. I'm sure that my fellow dads feel exactly the same way.

When they ask me each year what I'd like for a Father's Day gift, I usually come up with some item or another, but the honest answer is that being their dad is the greatest gift of all. If I received nothing but a "Happy Father's Day, Dad!" from them, it would be more than enough.

Luckily, they rarely read these posts, so I'll probably get a bit more than that.

I could go on and on about my kids, but I won't (don't want them getting too comfortable, as I still often threaten to sell them both for medical experiments).

Instead, here are a few knowledge bombs you can drop on Dad this Sunday:

Americans are expected to spend nearly $126 on Father’s Day, less than the $172 on Mother’s Day, according to the latest data from the National Retail Federation.
Those gifts will include the usual suspects: Neckties, tools and electronics.
Around 41% will buy him a gift card and one-fifth will opt for a gadget such as smartphone or tablet, broadly in-line with what people bought their fathers last year.
President Lyndon Johnson officially declared Father’s Day a national holiday in 1966 and President Richard Nixon signed Father’s Day into law as the third Sunday of June.
30% of people typically say they actually see their father on June 21, while 52% say they telephone their father, according to a separate 2014 poll of 5,500 people by marketing firm Brand Keys.
George Washington, the celebrated father of our country, had no children of his own. A 2004 study suggested that a type of tuberculosis that Washington contracted in childhood may have rendered him sterile. He did adopt the two children from Martha Custis's first marriage. (Mental Floss)
In 2001, Yuri Usachev, cosmonaut and commander of the International Space Station, received a talking picture frame from his 12-year-old daughter while in orbit. The gift was made possible by RadioShack, which filmed the presentation of the gift for a TV commercial. (Mental Floss)
The Stevie Wonder song "Isn't She Lovely" is about his newborn daughter, Aisha. If you listen closely, you can hear Aisha crying during the song. (Mental Floss)
According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one of the fastest growing groups in the United States are stay-at-home dads: they now number 214,000 men.
The necktie is consistently the most popular gift.
Over 87 million cards are sent each year making father's day the fourth-largest greeting card occasion of the year.

To the two who call me Dad, and the one who made me a Dad...thank you.