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Thanksgiving Day Fast Facts

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Published 10:07 am

CNN Editorial Research

Here’s a look at Thanksgiving Day, celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. In 2022, Thanksgiving is on November 24.

Facts

The USDA projects that 212 million turkeys will be raised in the United States in 2022.

The US president traditionally receives a turkey in a ceremony at the White House a few days before Thanksgiving Day. President Harry S. Truman started the tradition and President George H. W. Bush was the first to pardon the bird and not eat it.

Timeline

Fall 1621 – The first Thanksgiving is observed in Plymouth. A good harvest leads Massachusetts Governor William Bradford to plan a festival to give thanks. Around 90 Native Americans attend.

1789 – President George Washington issues a proclamation naming November 26 a day of national thanksgiving.

There was no national Thanksgiving Day for several years, but many states had Thanksgiving holidays.

October 3, 1863 – President Abraham Lincoln proclaims the last Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving.

1939 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt moves Thanksgiving Day one week earlier to boost the Christmas shopping season.

1941 – Congress rules that the fourth Thursday in November will be observed as Thanksgiving Day and a federal legal holiday.

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