Who started Thanksgiving tradition? Origins explained

Thanksgiving, the festival of gratitude, hearty meals and family gatherings, will fall on November 27, continuing its tradition of landing on the fourth Thursday of November every year.

According to Britannica, the traditional Thanksgiving story, which is widely believed, dates back to 1621 when the Pilgrims, who arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620, shared a harvest feast with the Wampanoag people. An eyewitness letter from 1621, written by Edward Winslow, stated that the feast lasted three days.

According to Boston University, the Pilgrims at Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts, held another day of Thanksgiving two years later in 1623. That year, a drought threatened to destroy their crops, prompting the Pilgrims to fast and pray for relief. A few days later, rain arrived, saving the harvest.

Almost 150 years later, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday. However, many believe that the festival dates further back.

The first Thanksgiving in our nation’s history took place on September 8, 1565, in St. Augustine, FL. After Fr. Francisco López celebrated Mass, the Spanish settlers and the local Native American tribe came together to share a communal meal. pic.twitter.com/4cAhdZjftl

— Catholic Life (@prayandfast2) November 25, 2024

According to the National Park Service, the first Thanksgiving occurred with Spanish settlers in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565, 56 years earlier than the Pilgrims celebrated it. When Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and 800 Spanish settlers founded the city of St. Augustine in Spanish La Florida, they held a Catholic Mass of Thanksgiving. They laid out a meal, to which they invited the native Seloy tribe.

According to them, it did not become a national tradition because "during the 18th century, British forces won out over those of Spain and France for mastery over the continent. Thus, British observances, such as the annual reenactment of the Pilgrims' harvest festival in 1621, became a national practice."

Why is Thanksgiving celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November?

Thanksgiving has been officially celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November since 1941. However, the date was not always consistent.

President George Washington declared Thursday, November 26, 1789, a "Day of Public Thanksgiving." Later, President Abraham Lincoln, in his 1863 proclamation, established the festival on the fourth Thursday in November.

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the second-to-last Thursday of November in an effort to extend the shopping season for retailers. However, according to Britannica, not all complied with this change, and the festival was eventually fixed on the fourth Thursday of November when Congress passed a law in December 1941.

Meanwhile, many celebrities are sharing their Thanksgiving plans as the holiday approaches. Chrissy Teigen, the wife of singer John Legend, shared in a November 2025 interview with People magazine that she will be returning to New York City for Christmas with her family.

"I hate turkey, so I have a chicken recipe in my book," she said. "We usually nestle two chickens together, they're about four and a half pounds or so, to equal one turkey. But recently for the past five years, we've had John's entire family, which is very extensive. So we'll usually do four chickens, two chickens nestled together in a little bin. But then John also just bought a smoker, so I feel like this year, he is going to take over the turkey duties."

Other celebrities have also shared what they are thankful for. Bustel noted that Brianna Chickenfry is "thankful for Taylor Swift marrying a podcaster, because that basically makes us podcast friends three times removed." At the same time, Hallie Batchelder, host of Extra Dirty, said that she is "thankful for my online community. Without you, I’d just be talking dirty to myself."

Stay tuned for more updates.