Thanksgiving Day

In America Thanksgiving Day, since about 1941, is now the 4th Thursday of November.

It can occur on any day from 22 November thru 28 November, depending upon the day of the week that All Saints day falls on.

If November 01 is on a Friday    then Thanksgiving will be on 28 November that year.
If November 01 is on a Saturday  then Thanksgiving will be on 27 November that year.
If November 01 is on a Sunday    then Thanksgiving will be on 26 November that year.
If November 01 is on a Monday    then Thanksgiving will be on 25 November that year.
If November 01 is on a Tuesday   then Thanksgiving will be on 24 November that year.
If November 01 is on a Wednesday then Thanksgiving will be on 23 November that year.
If November 01 is on a Thursday  then Thanksgiving will be on 22 November that year.

While it originally was to be a day to give thanks to God for a good harvest it has become a day of extreme gluttony for most Americans.  After eating way too much many if not most Americans sit around the television and watch football games and drink beer.

Thanksgiving Day is rooted in the tradition of many harvest festivals.  It is said to have started in 1621 with a feast held by the English Pilgrims that founded the Plymouth Colony and the Wamponoag tribe of American Indians. 

During the American Civil War A. Lincoln proclaimed that Thanksgiving be held in November 1863,  In 1939 FDR declared that Thanksgiving be held each year on the next to the last Thursday of November.  Two years later Congress established a federal holiday to be held on the fourth thursday of November.

Info from Pennlines Magazine Nov 2011.