How Thanksgiving Got Its Day
The American holiday that was unpredictable until 1942
“Both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God” — An except from George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789.
There are differing views about who should take credit for the popular American holiday Thanksgiving Day. Some credit the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians. Others credit Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Still, others have never thought twice about its origins but love to gather with family and friends, give thanks, and eat as much turkey as they can stomach.
Today, Americans take for granted that Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday of November, but it was not always that way. Only since 1942 has the date of Thanksgiving Day been predictable for Americans.
The myth of the first thanksgiving
A large harvest feast that the lore of Thanksgiving Day celebrates did take place nearly 400 years ago in the northeast of the modern-day United States. According to Maya Salam of the New York Times, that three-day feast and celebration…
