At the request of the first Congress, President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, as a "Day of Publick Thanksgivin" - the first time Thanksgiving was celebrated under the new Constitution.
Subsequent presidents issued Thanksgiving Proclamations, but the dates and even months of the celebrations varied.
It wasn't until President Lincoln's 1863 Proclamation that the holiday was regularly commemorated on the last Thursday of each November.
In 1939, however, the last Thursday in November fell on the last day of the month and with the Great Depression in full swing, FDR was concerned the shortened shopping season might dampen the economic recovery.
As a result, he issued a proclamation moving Thanksgiving to the second to the last Thursday of November. Thirty-two states issued similar proclamations, but 16 of them refused to accept the change and instead kept the holiday on the fourth Thursday.
To end the confusion, Congress decided to set a fixed-date for the holiday.
In October 1941, the House passed a joint resolution declaring the last Thursday in November to be the legal Thanksgiving Day.
The Senate, however, amended the resolution establishing the holiday as the fourth Thursday to take into account those years when November has five Thursdays.
The House agreed to the amendment, and FDR signed the resolution on Dec. 26, 1941, establishing the fourth Thursday in November as the Federal Thanksgiving Day holiday.
