Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, observed annually on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, is a national holiday centered on gratitude, family gatherings, and a traditional harvest-themed feast. The holiday's origins are commonly traced to a 1621 harvest celebration shared between Plymouth Colony settlers and members of the Wampanoag nation, though the specific details and framing of this event have been significantly mythologized over time and are subject to ongoing historical reassessment, particularly regarding its impact on Indigenous communities. Days of thanksgiving were observed sporadically throughout the colonial and early national periods, often proclaimed by individual states or presidents for specific occasions, before President Abraham Lincoln formally established a fixed annual national Thanksgiving holiday in 1863 amid the Civil War, intending it to help foster unity within a divided nation. The holiday's date shifted briefly in the 1930s when President Franklin Roosevelt moved it a week earlier to extend the Christmas shopping season during the Great Depression, a change so controversial that Congress permanently fixed the date to the fourth Thursday of November by law in 1941. Modern Thanksgiving celebrations typically center on a large family meal featuring turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie, alongside traditions including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and televised football games, and the holiday also marks the unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping season through the following day's Black Friday sales.