10 fun facts about Father's Day as the KM Media Group launches My Dad supplement
It's that time of year again when dads across the country get the tie and matching sock combo they have always dreamed of.
But what do you know about the day itself? Do you need to brush up on your trivia knowledge to impress the father figure in your life?
Below are 11 facts you may - or may not - know about dads.
- More than 1.5 billion fathers will be celebrated on Sunday for Father's Day
Father's Day was actually invented... by a woman! Sonora Smart Dodd proposed the idea in Washington in 1910. Her mother died during childbirth leaving her father William, a civil war veteran, to raise her and her four siblings alone
- According to greetings card makers Hallmark, Father’s Day is the fifth-largest card-sending day
In Germany, Father's Day iscelebrated by getting drunk with wagons of beer and indulging in regional food
- The rose is the official flower of Father's Day
Marilyn Monroe famously sung Cole Porter’s My Heart Belongs to Daddy. She did not know who her real father was
- Not every country celebrates this occasion in June - In Thailand, Father's Day falls on December 5 - the birthday of the current King, Bhumipol Adulyadej. In Australia it is the first Sunday of September, while in Finland it is the second Sunday in Novemb
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Female shoppers on average spend 50% more on their fathers than men
- Some 3% of fathers living with dependent children are lone fathers
In 2008 thousands of primary pupils in Scotland were prevented from making Father's Day cards at school for fear of embarrassing classmates who lived with single mothers
- Russian Feodor Vassilyev is thought to be father to the most children. He and his first wife Valentina had sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets between 1725 and 1765 - a total of 69 children Feodor later had 18 children with his second wife, bringing his grand total to 87. However, some historians have thrown doubt on the claim
Don't forget to pick up your must-have My Dad supplement in this week's paid-for KM Group newspapers.
Children have been asked to draw pictures of their father, and the results will be displayed in the special tribute section.
More than 14,000 Kent schoolchildren have taken part - don't miss your copy!
