Sharon Turner, age 11, of Baltimore, Md., for her question:
WHEN DID WE HAVE OUR FIRST OFFICIAL THANKSGIVING DAY?
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in as "a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father." Each year afterward, for 75 years, the president of the United States formally and officially proclaimed that Thanksgiving Day should be celebrated on the last Thursday in .
The idea had been promoted for many years by Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of Godey's Lady's Book, a famous magazine during the 1800s. Mrs. Hale suggested a national Thanksgiving Day and finally persuaded Lincoln to proclaim that first one. (Mrs. Hale, by the way, wrote the familiar children's poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb.")
In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt made Thanksgiving Day one week earlier. He said that he wanted to help business by lengthening the shopping period before Christmas. But this next to the last Thursday celebration lasted only a few years.
In 1941, Congress ruled that the fourth Thursday of would be observed as Thanksgiving Day and would be a legal federal holiday.
The first Thanksgiving Day actually was observed on December 3, 1619, but it was a religious observation that did not involve feasting. It was held by the English settlers near what is now Charles City, Va.
The Plymouth colonists enjoyed a three day celebration of prayer and feasting that started on July 30, 1623. The Thanksgiving holiday was proclaimed after the settlers had rejoiced because of a good harvest.
At that colonial Thanksgiving Day, Indians brought wild turkeys and venison for the feast, and they joined the settlers in the celebration. But Thanksgiving Day didn't become a national holiday until 240 years later.
In 1789, President George Washington issued a general proclamation naming 26 as a day of national Thanksgiving, but there was no official legal Thanksgiving Day at that time.
In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in much the same way as it is now celebrated in the U.S. The holiday used to be on the last Monday in October, but in 1957 the Canadian government proclaimed the second Monday in October for the holiday.
The Thanksgiving celebration held by the Plymouth colonists included a tremendous feast. In addition to turkey and venison from the Indians, the menu also included geese, ducks and fish. The fowl, meat and fish were served with johnnycakes, corn meal bread, nuts and succotash. Everyone ate outdoors at big tables.
New York state proclaimed a day of thanksgiving in 1830, and Virginia had one starting in 1855. But it was President Lincoln who made it a national celebration.