In a 1789 proclamation, President George Washington called on the people of the United States to acknowledge God for affording them “an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness” by observing a day of thanksgiving. Devoting a day to “public thanksgiving and prayer,” as Washington called it, became a yearly tradition in many communities. Thanksgiving became a national holiday in 1863. In that year, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln made his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. He asked his fellow citizens to “to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise . . .” It was not until 1941 that Congress designated the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day, thus creating a federal holiday. However official, the idea of a special day for giving thanks was not born of presidential proclamations. Native American harvest festivals had been celebrated for centuries, and colonial services dated back to the late 16th century. Thanksgiving Day, as we know it today, began in the early 1600s when settlers in both Massachusetts and Virginia came together to give thanks for their survival, for the fertility of their fields, and for their faith. The most widely known early Thanksgiving is that of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts, who feasted for 3 days with the Wampanoag people in 1621. Turkey has become the traditional Thanksgiving fare because at one time it was a rare treat. During the 1830s, an eight- to ten-pound bird cost a day’s wages. Even though turkeys are affordable today, they still remain a celebratory symbol of bounty. In fact, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin ate roast turkey in foil packets for their first meal on the Moon.
1710s
1820s
1830s
1890s
- 1896: FIRST MAJOR FOOTBALL GAME PLAYED INDOORS, CHICAGO COLISEUM, ILLINOIS
- BORN 1898: KARL ZIEGLER (CHEMIST)
1900s
1910s
1920s
- 1922: ARCHEOLOGIST HOWARD CARTER OPENED SECOND DOORWAY TO TOMB OF TUTANKHAMEN
- BORN 1922: CHARLES SCHULZ (CREATOR OF PEANUTS COMIC STRIP)
- BORN 1924: GEORGE SEGAL (SCULPTOR)
1930s
1940s
- 1942: THE MOVIE CASABLANCA PREMIERED IN NEW YORK CITY
- BORN 1943: BRUCE PALTROW (DIRECTOR & PRODUCER)
- BORN 1946: JOHN MCVIE (MUSICIAN)
1950s
1960s
1980s
1990s
- 1991: COMEDIAN MILTON BERLE MARRIED LORNA ADAMS
- 1997: THELMA CHALIFOUX WAS THE FIRST METIS WOMAN TO BECOME A CANADIAN SENATOR (ALBERTA)
2000s
COURTESY www.almanac.com
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