Thanksgiving (United States)

Legendary card · No. 1726

Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November (which became the uniform date country-wide in 1941). The earliest Thanksgiving can occur is November 22; the latest is November 28. Outside the United States, it is called American Thanksgiving to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions. As the name implies, the holiday generally revolves around giving thanks and the centerpiece of most celebrations is a Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. The modern national celebration dates to 1863 when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens"; prior to this, it was a regional holiday, whose origins lie in the 17th century days of fasting and days of thanksgiving of Calvinist New England. The evolution of the holiday was not linear (various New England communities had independently developed their own...

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