A Timeline
1621
The First Feast
Pilgrims and Wampanoag share a three-day harvest celebration at Plymouth Colony.
1789
Washington's Proclamation
George Washington proclaims a national day of thanksgiving, though not yet annual.
1863
Lincoln Makes It National
Abraham Lincoln proclaims Thanksgiving a national holiday, held each November.
1939
Franklin Roosevelt's Shift
FDR moves Thanksgiving up a week to extend the holiday shopping season — a controversial change.
1941
Congress Fixes the Date
Congress sets Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November, where it remains today.
1989
The First Turkey Pardon
George H. W. Bush begins the annual presidential tradition of pardoning a turkey.
The 1621 Feast
In autumn 1621, the roughly 50 surviving Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony held a three-day celebration of their first successful harvest. Wampanoag leader Massasoit and about 90 of his men joined them. The meal featured fowl, deer, and corn — a moment of cooperation between two peoples, even if the later history would be far more troubled.
Sarah Josepha Hale's Campaign
For nearly four decades, writer Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for a national Thanksgiving holiday. Her letters to presidents and governors finally persuaded Abraham Lincoln, who in 1863 — amid the Civil War — proclaimed Thanksgiving a national day of thanks.
The Fourth Thursday
In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week to boost retail sales during the Depression. The change proved unpopular, and in 1941 Congress fixed the holiday on the fourth Thursday of November — the date we celebrate today.