American Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November. This year Thanksgiving will fall on Thursday November 28, 2013.
The custom of celebrating Thanksgiving, an annual celebration held after the harvest began around 1621 when the Pilgrims fulfilled a successful and bountiful harvest in the New World.
The first Thanksgiving Proclamation was made in 1675.
In the late 1700's a day of national Thanksgiving was proposed by the Continental Congress.
In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.
For a more detailed history of Thanksgiving around the world visit The History of Thanksgiving and the Celebrations. You can also learn about Thanksgiving celebrated in Canada in October.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!