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The First Thanksgiving
The Pilgrims of the Plymouth colony hosted a three-day feast and celebration known as the 1621 Thanksgiving. They held the festival to mark their first successful harvest and to express their gratitude to the Powhatan Indians who had assisted them in surviving. The following year's celebration was not conducted because the harvest wasn't nearly as good. Following that, in 1623, there was an extremely dry year, and the Pilgrims hoped for rain. -
New England Thanksgiving
On July 7, 1630, Massachusetts Bay colony Governor John Winthrop conducted a formal day of prayer and thankfulness, but it wasn't widely observed as a holiday. -
Give Thanks
George Washington declared November 26th to be a day of national thanksgiving in 1789. Thanksgiving, however, never managed to become a yearly custom. After that, almost every president made an effort to proclaim a national day of gratitude. -
Federal Holiday
A declaration of thankfulness finally took hold. Journalist Sarah Joseph Hale successfully petitioned President Lincoln to designate the fourth Thursday of Thanksgiving as a "day of Thanksgiving and Praise." Lincoln issued an order for all government offices to be closed on the holiday. Thanksgiving has always been observed nationally in November since that time. -
College Football
The college football championship was played on Thanksgiving Day for the first time this year. This custom developed into one of the Thanksgiving football traditions that remain cherished today. -
First Parade
The first-ever Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was sponsored in New York City on Thanksgiving Day, 1924, by the Macy's department store. Thanksgiving started to resemble our modern Thanksgiving in 1927 when huge balloons were added to the parade. -
Set a Date
Thanksgiving will be observed on the fourth Thursday of November, according to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Thanksgiving was celebrated on the final Thursday of the month, which was occasionally the fourth or fifth Thursday, between 1863 and 1941. Since then, Thanksgiving has always fallen on the fourth Thursday of November. -
Presidential Pardon
A turkey was "pardoned" by President Harry Truman the day before it was to be served as the main course at the White House Thanksgiving meal. Presidents of today have continued the tradition.