June 18, 1812: The day after the Senate followed the House of Representatives in voting to declare war against Great Britain,
President James Madison signed the declaration into law—
and the War of 1812 began. The American war declaration,
opposed by a sizable minority in Congress, had been called
in response to the British economic blockade of France, the
induction of American seaman into the British Royal Navy
against their will, and the British support of Indian tribes along
the Great Lakes frontier. A faction of Congress known as the
“War Hawks” had been advocating war with Britain for several
years and had not hidden their hopes that a U.S. invasion of
Canada might result in significant territorial land gains for the
United States.
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836)
Sonora founded Father’s Day in Spokane, Washington, in
1910. She was inspired by the example of her devoted
dad, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran.
In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first
presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating
the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.
Six years later, the day was made a permanent national
holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law
in 1972.
William Jackson Smart, the inspiration for Father’s Day.