Happy Fathers Day – which started in America as a workers memorial day

Did you know that the first Father’s Day has workplace origins?  On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation’s first event to explicitly honor fathers[i].  The Sunday sermon was held in memory of the 362 men who were killed in explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah, West Virginia the previous December.  These explosions remain the worst mine disaster[ii] and the worst industrial catastrophe of any kind[iii] in the history of the United States.  The 362 casualties left more than 1,000 widows and children.

See the CDC NIOSH Science Blog: http://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2012/06/fathers-day/