You’ve probably been there. It’s early November, you’re trying to book a flight or coordinate a potluck, and suddenly someone asks, "Wait, what day is it on this year?" You check your phone. You realize it’s later—or earlier—than you thought.
The date of American Thanksgiving isn't just a random Thursday. It’s a logistical puzzle that was actually settled by an Act of Congress because, believe it or not, people used to get really angry about when to eat turkey.
Most folks just know it’s the fourth Thursday in November. But why the fourth? Why not the last? And why did we change it in the first place?
The Messy History of Picking a Day
For a long time, there was no official date. It was a chaotic mess.
George Washington called for a day of thanks in 1789, but it didn't stick as an annual thing. Governors just picked whatever day they liked. You could have Thanksgiving in October in Connecticut and December in Virginia. It was a regional free-for-all.
Enter Sarah Josepha Hale. You might know her as the lady who wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb," but she was also a relentless lobbyist. She spent 36 years—basically half her life—writing letters to five different presidents. She wanted a unified national holiday. Finally, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln listened. He needed something to unify a country literally tearing itself apart during the Civil War.
Lincoln set the date of American Thanksgiving as the last Thursday of November.
This worked for decades. People got used to it. Then came the Great Depression, and everything changed because of—wait for it—retailers.
The "Franksgiving" Fiasco of 1939
In 1939, November had five Thursdays.
If Thanksgiving fell on the 30th, that left a very short Christmas shopping season. Retailers were terrified. They begged President Franklin D. Roosevelt to move the holiday up by one week to the 23rd. FDR agreed. He thought it would give the economy a much-needed jolt by extending the shopping window.
People lost their minds.
It was a total disaster. Half the country ignored him. Republicans called it "Franksgiving," while Democrats stuck with the new date. Football coaches were furious because they’d already scheduled games. Calendar makers had already printed millions of calendars with the wrong date.
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For two years, the date of American Thanksgiving depended entirely on which state you lived in. In 1940 and 1941, some states celebrated on the third Thursday, some on the fourth, and some—like Texas—just took both days off because, well, it’s Texas.
Congress Finally Steps In
By 1941, everyone realized this was stupid.
Congress passed a law. On December 26, 1941, FDR signed legislation that officially established the date of American Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November.
Why the fourth and not the "last"?
Because in years with five Thursdays, the fourth Thursday still leaves a decent gap for Christmas shopping without being too early. It was a compromise. It was a way to keep the peace between the people who wanted tradition and the people who wanted to sell toasters.
Since then, the holiday has fluctuated between November 22nd and November 28th.
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- Earliest possible date: November 22 (when the month starts on a Thursday).
- Latest possible date: November 28 (when the month starts on a Friday).
If you’re wondering about 2026, it lands on November 26. It's a mid-range year.
Why the Date Matters for Your Wallet
The date of American Thanksgiving dictates the entire rhythm of the American economy.
When the holiday is late (like November 28), the "Black Friday" season is compressed. This usually leads to more aggressive sales earlier in the month as retailers panic. When it's early (the 22nd), you get a leisurely 32 days until Christmas.
Travelers feel this the most.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving is consistently the busiest travel day of the year in the United States. According to TSA data from recent years, they often screen over 2.9 million passengers on that single day. If the holiday is late in the month, those travel patterns often collide with early December winter storms, creating a nightmare at hubs like O'Hare or Denver.
Common Myths About the Date
A lot of people think the Pilgrims picked the date. They didn't.
The "First Thanksgiving" in 1621 was a three-day harvest festival. It probably happened in late September or early October. They weren't sitting around waiting for a Thursday in November. In fact, they wouldn't have even recognized the concept of a "national holiday."
Another myth? That it’s on a Thursday because of the Puritans.
There's a grain of truth there. Puritans often held "days of fasting" on Wednesdays and "days of thanksgiving" on Thursdays. They wanted to avoid the Catholic Sabbath and didn't want the celebration to bleed into Friday, which was often a market day. Thursday was just a convenient "middle of the week" gap.
Planning for Future Thanksgivings
If you like to plan ahead—and honestly, with airfare prices, you probably should—you can actually calculate the date of American Thanksgiving without a calendar.
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Just look at the first day of November.
- If Nov 1 is a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, the holiday is the 26th, 27th, or 28th.
- If Nov 1 is a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, the holiday is the 25th, 24th, or 23rd.
- If Nov 1 is a Thursday, it’s the earliest possible date: the 22nd.
Knowing this helps you beat the "holiday creep."
Practical Next Steps for Navigating the Date
Don't wait until the Macy’s Parade is on TV to realize you forgot the cranberry sauce.
First, set a calendar alert for "T-Minus 3 Weeks." This is the sweet spot. If the date of American Thanksgiving is early, you need to have your frozen turkey in the fridge by the prior weekend. A 20-pound bird takes roughly four to five days to thaw safely in the refrigerator.
Second, book travel exactly 11 weeks out. Data from travel aggregators suggests that for domestic flights around this specific Thursday, the price floor usually hits in early to mid-September.
Finally, sync your family digital calendar now. Because the date shifts every year, it’s easy for work projects or school events to get double-booked. If you’re hosting, confirm your guest list before November 1st. Whether the holiday falls on the 22nd or the 28th, the one thing that never changes is how fast the time disappears once November starts.