Thanksgiving will be celebrated on November 27 this year, marking the second-latest date possible for the holiday. The latest possible Thanksgiving will occur in 2024, when it falls on November 28. The earliest Thanksgiving can be celebrated is November 22, a date that has not occurred since 2018 and will not be seen again until 2029.
The shifting date of Thanksgiving often raises questions. Unlike fixed holidays, Thanksgiving’s date changes due to the calendar, which is determined by various factors including the day of the week. The United States has observed Thanksgiving since 1789, when President George Washington issued the first proclamation for a “Day of Publick Thanksgiving,” which was set for November 26. Over the following seventy years, presidents continued to issue proclamations, but the holiday’s date varied significantly, sometimes even falling outside of November.
According to the Library of Congress, notable proclamations include those by President James Madison, who declared Thanksgiving on September 9 in 1813 and March 16 in 1815. It was not until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as the last Thursday of November, a practice that continued until 1939.
In that year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the second-to-last Thursday of November, aiming to extend the Christmas shopping season during the ongoing economic recovery from the Great Depression. While 32 states accepted this change, 16 states chose to keep Thanksgiving on the last Thursday. This inconsistency lasted until 1941, when Congress standardized the holiday to the fourth Thursday of November.
Looking ahead, Thanksgiving will again fall earlier next year, taking place on November 26. As families prepare for the holiday, the tradition of gathering and giving thanks remains a cornerstone of American culture.