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History of Thanksgiving
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First Thanksgiving
The 1621 Thanksgiving was a three-day feast and celebration that the Pilgrims of the Plymouth colony held. They had the celebration to celebrate their first harvest and to thank the local Powhatan Indians that had helped them to survive. This celebration was not held the following year as the next harvest wasn’t nearly as good. The year after that (1623) there was a terrible drought, and the Pilgrims prayed for rain. -
Thanksgiving between the Pilgriams and Indians
After a severe drought ends in heavy rainshowers, the Pilgrims invite the Indians for another feast to give thanks for the welcome rain. -
Massachusetts Thanksgiving
Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay colony observed an official day of prayer and thanksgiving on July 7th 1630 but that didn’t really catch on as a holiday. -
Charlestown, Massachusettes schedules Thanksgiving
The governing council of Charlestown, Massachusettes holds a meeting to decide how to express thanks for their good fortune. They proclaim June 29th as a day of thanksgiving. -
Charlestown, Massachusettes celebrates Thanksgiving
The scheduled day of thanksgiving is celebrated in Charlestown, Massachusettes. -
Thirteen colonies celebrate Thanksgiving
All thirteen colonies celebrated on December 18 while Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont sponsored additional thanksgiving observances on separate days. -
First declaration of Thanksgiving as national holiday by George Washington
On October 3, 1789 George Washington proclaimed November 26th to be a national day of thanksgiving. However, Thanksgiving failed to become an annual tradition. Nearly every president after that tried to declare a national day of thanks. -
Second declaration of Thanksgiving as national holiday by Abraham Lincoln
Finally a proclamation of thanksgiving stuck. President Lincoln, having been lobbied by journalist Sarah Joseph Hale, declared the last Thursday of Thanksgiving to be set aside as a “day of Thanksgiving and Praise”. Lincoln ordered the government departments to close for the holiday. From that year on, Thanksgiving has been celebrated by the nation in November. -
First Thanksgiving Day football game
The American Intercollegiate Football Association held its first championship game on Thanksgiving Day, 1876. The sport resembled something of a cross between rugby and modern-day football, but the tradition of playing football on Thanksgiving Day developed with the evolution of the sport itself. -
First Macy's Day parade
On Thanksgiving Day, 1924, Macy’s department store sponsored the first ever Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. -
Macy's Day parade balloons added
In 1927, giant balloons were added to the parade, and Thanksgiving began to look much more like our Thanksgivings of today. -
Final declaration of Thanksgiving as national holiday by Franklin D. Roosevelt
President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared Thanksgiving to be held on the fourth Thursday of November. In the years between 1863 and 1941 Thanksgiving was held on the last Thursday, which was sometimes the fourth, and sometimes the fifth Thursday. Thanksgiving has been the fourth Thursday in November ever since.
