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Halsey W. Taylor
from Father's Day
Halsey W. Taylor
Profound personal experiences inspired Halsey W. Taylor to dedicate his life to inventing a sanitary dispenser to provide safe drinking water in public places. In 1896, Taylor’s father died from typhoid fever after drinking contaminated water. Years later, dysentery caused by suspected contaminated drinking water spread among workers at the company where Taylor was a plant supervisor.
In 1912, he invented Puritan Sanitary Fountain and the still-popular two-stream Double Bubbler from the company’s original manufacturing facility in Warren, Ohio.
1908
Following an explosion that killed 362 men at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah, West Virginia, an area church hosted a one-time commemoration that marked the nation’s first event explicitly to honor fathers.
1910
The first Father’s Day celebration was celebrated on June 19 at the YMCA in Spokane, Washington, to honor widower and father of six William Jackson Smart, as well as other dads.
1924
President Calvin Coolidge publicly supported plans for a national Father’s Day.
1966
A proclamation calling for Father’s Day to be celebrated on the third Sunday in June was signed by President Lyndon Johnson.
1972
Fifty-eight years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official, President Richard Nixon signed into law a permanent recognition of Father’s Day.
