The first US Thanksgiving was held in 1621 sometime between September 21 and November 11 in Massachusetts by 50 Plymouth Pilgrims and their 90 Wampanoag neighbors. After that, Thanksgiving was held fairly randomly. Thanksgiving days were proclaimed annually by the US Congress from 1777 to 1783 which, except for 1782, were all celebrated in December. George Washington declared Thanksgiving in 1789 and 1795, and John Adams in 1798 and 1799. James Madison declared Thanksgiving twice in 1815. None of these were celebrated in the autumn.

The next national Thanksgiving was declared only in April 1862, by Abraham Lincoln. In 1863, he declared Thanksgiving for August 6, and for the last Thursday in November. He went on to declare a similar Thanksgiving observance in 1864, establishing a precedent that was followed by Andrew Johnson in 1865 and by every subsequent president.

It wasn’t until President Roosevelt signed a bill on November 26, 1941 that established the fourth Thursday in November as the national Thanksgiving public holiday.