FATHERS: We honor and celebrate our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers as well as all of the father figures in our lives every year when the third Sunday of June rolls around, consistently.

But did you know that the origin of Father’s Day was actually rooted in tragedy? No? Continue reading for an interesting and rather surprising Father’s Day origin story:

Coincidentally, in the same year which Mother’s Day is accredited with its beginnings, 1908, a small church in Fairmont, West Virginia held “the first public event meant to specifically honor the fathers of their community,” who were killed the previous December in a mining accident, according to Mentalfloss.com. Although a specific day wasn’t named as the National holiday for Fathers until 1972, the ceremony in West Virginia was the first to set a precedent of reserving a day for dads in the United States.

Even though West Virginia was the first state to recognize fathers, albeit fallen fathers, it is actually the state of Washington which is credited with holding the first actual Father’s Day celebrations.

The first official Father’s Day was originally marked for June 5, in recognition of the birthday of the organizer’s father, a Civil War veteran named William Jackson Smart. However, the mayor of Spokane needed more time for “preparations for all festivities involved,” according to Mentalfloss.com.

As a result, Spokane resident Sonora Smart Dodd, who was the organizer of said event, compromised with city officials and the first official state Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910. So the reason Father’s Day takes place on the third Sunday in June each year, is simply the result of a compromise and happens on that day annually by pure accident.