how and when did thanksgiving become an official holiday as the fourth thursday in november?
Thanksgiving became an official U.S. federal holiday on the fourth Thursday in November in 1941, when Congress passed a joint resolution that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law on December 26, 1941.
From shifting dates to a fixed day
For much of U.S. history, Thanksgiving was proclaimed year by year, with presidents (and earlier, colonial and state governments) choosing different dates, sometimes even different months. In 1863, amid the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln began the tradition of a regular national Thanksgiving by proclaiming the last Thursday in November as a recurring day of thanksgiving.
FDR, āFranksgiving,ā and the controversy
In 1939, the last Thursday in November fell on November 30, leaving a very short Christmas shopping season during the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to boost the economy by moving Thanksgiving to the secondātoālast (effectively the third or fourth) Thursday that year and in 1940ā41, a move critics mockingly called āFranksgiving.ā
This change split the country: some states followed Rooseveltās new date, while others stuck with the traditional last Thursday, meaning Americans in different states sometimes celebrated Thanksgiving on different days. The confusion over school schedules, parades, and especially football games helped fuel demands for a single nationwide rule.
How it became the fourth Thursday
To end the chaos, Congress stepped in. On October 6, 1941, the House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring the last Thursday in November as the legal Thanksgiving Day. The Senate then amended the measure so that Thanksgiving would fall on the fourth Thursday instead, ensuring a consistent date even in years when November has five Thursdays.
The House accepted the Senateās change, and President Roosevelt signed the joint resolution on December 26, 1941, officially establishing Thanksgiving as a federal holiday on the fourth Thursday in November beginning in 1942.
Why a Thursday at all?
The choice of Thursday traces back to colonial and early national practice, when days of thanksgiving and prayer were often scheduled on weekdays that would not conflict with Sunday worship or major market days. Over time, Thursday became the customary day for such observances, and Lincolnās 1863 proclamation on a Thursday helped cement that weekly pattern into national tradition.
TL;DR: Thanksgiving was long a floating presidential proclamation, usually on the last Thursday of November, until economic pressures and public backlash over Rooseveltās date changes pushed Congress to act. The 1941 law, signed by Roosevelt on December 26, fixed Thanksgiving as a federal holiday on the fourth Thursday in November, the rule still used today.
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