In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims, early settlers of Plymouth Colony,
held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest, an event many
regard as the nation's first Thanksgiving. Historians have also
recorded ceremonies of thanks among other groups of European settlers
in North America, including British colonists in Virginia in 1619. The
legacy of thanks and the feast have survived the centuries, as the
event became a national holiday in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln
proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of
thanksgiving. Later, President Franklin Roosevelt clarified that
Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the
month to encourage earlier holiday shopping, never on the occasional
fifth Thursday. Facts and more for Thanksgiving Day
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