When is Thanksgiving Day 2016? Today. Thursday, November 24th, (the fourth Thursday in November) - the day before Black Friday. Thanksgiving Day traditionally kicks off the 'holiday season' in the United States. The day was set in stone by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 and approved by Congress in 1941.

1. When is Thanksgiving Day 2016?
Today. Thursday, November 24th, (the fourth Thursday in November) -
the day before Black Friday.
Thanksgiving Day traditionally kicks off the 'holiday season' in the
United States. The day was set in stone by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt in 1939 and approved by Congress in 1941. FDR changed it
from Abraham Lincoln's designation as the last Thursday in November
(because there are sometimes five Thursdays in the month).
While Britons think of it as a warm-up for the Yuletide period, many
Americans think it of it as just as important as Christmas.
In fact, more people in the US celebrate Thanksgiving than they do
Christmas. Thanksgiving Day is a secular holiday in a country that
officially separates church and state so this probably makes sense.
What is the history of Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving Day can be traced back to the 1621 celebration at the
Plymouth Plantation, where the religious refugees from England known
popularly as the Pilgrims invited the local Native Americans to a harvest
feast after a particularly successful growing season.
The previous year's harvests had failed and in the winter of 1620 half of
the pilgrims had starved to death.

2. Luckily for the rest, members of the local Wampanoag tribe taught the
Pilgrims how to grow corn, beans and squash (the Three Sisters); catch
fish, and collect seafood.
There are only two contemporary accounts of the 1621 Thanksgiving,
but it's clear that Turkey was not on the menu. The three-day feast
included goose, lobster, cod and deer.
Does Britain have an equivalent?
Yes, it's called Harvest Day, although it's a lot less of a big deal. While
we usually take a few non-perishables down to our local church and
enter our autumn vegetables in competitions, Thanksgiving in North
America is a much more plentiful and extravagant affair.
So why do Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day?
Pilgrim Edward Winslow wrote a letter about that now-famous meal in
1621 which mentioned a turkey hunt before the dinner.
Another theory says the choice of turkey was inspired by Queen
Elizabeth I who was eating dinner when she heard that Spanish ships
had sunk on their way to attack England.
Queenie was so thrilled with the news she ordered another goose be
served. Some claim early US settlers roasted turkeys as they were
inspired by her actions.
Others say that as wild turkeys are native to North America, they were a
natural choice for early settlers.

3. Classic Thanksgiving dishes
Turkey: and/or ham, goose and duck or turduken (a spatchcocked combo
of three whole birds!)
Stuffing (also known as dressing): a mix of bread cubes, chopped celery,
carrots, onions and sage stuffed inside the turkey for roasting. Chestnuts,
chopped bacon or sausage, and raisins or apples are also sometimes
included in the stuffing.
Pies: pumpkin pies are most common, but pecan, apple, sweet potato
and mincemeat pies are also quite popular.
Thanksgiving etiquette: 'Don't mention Donald Trump!'
Arguing with the in-laws is a time-honored holiday tradition the world
over - but with passions running high after Donald Trump's election,
many Americans will be navigating a minefield as they celebrate
Thanksgiving on Thursday.
Thankfully, the internet has stepped up with a host of tips for taking the
peril out of the occasion - starting with a list of arguments to divert from
an unwanted foray into politics.
Things that are OK to spar over, as listed by CNN, include: How to cook
the turkey, roast, grill or deep-fry? And the stuffing, inside the bird or on
the side? Cranberry sauce, canned or freshly made? What to do before
you eat - crash out in front of the TV or build your appetite with a walk?
Who set the date of Thanksgiving Day?

4. 'The National Thanksgiving Proclamation' was the first formal
proclamation of Thanksgiving in America. The first President of the
United States George Washington made this proclamation on October 3,
1789.
Then in 1846, author Sarah Josepha Hale waged a one-woman campaign
for Thanksgiving to be recognised as a truly national holiday.
In the US the day had previously been celebrated only in New England
and was largely unknown in the American South. All the other states
scheduled their own Thanksgiving holidays at different times, some as
early as October and others as late as January.
Hale's advocacy for the national holiday lasted 17 years and four
presidencies before the letter she wrote to Lincoln was successful. In
1863 at the height of the Civil War he supported legislation which
established a national holiday of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of
November.
Lincoln perhaps wanted the date to tie in with the anchoring of the
Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred on November 21, 1620.
Although we now use the Gregorian calendar. In 1621 the date would
have been November 11 to the Pilgrims who used the Julian calendar.
So Hale finally got her wish. She is perhaps now better known, though,
for writing the nursery rhyme 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'.
'Franksgiving'

5. In 1939, President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week to try and
give a boost to retailers before Christmas during the Great Depression.
Several states followed FDR’s lead but 16 states refused move the
holiday shift, leaving the country with rival Thanksgivings. FDR
changed his mind after coming under pressure from Congress and in
1941, the a resolution was passeed returning the holiday to the fourth
Thursday of November.
Atlantic City mayor Thomas D. Taggart later described the
Thanksgiving holiday from 1939–1941 as "Franksgiving".
Eating turkey is actually more associated with Thanksgiving than it is
Christmas in the States with over 50 million turkeys served up every
year in the US.
Every year, though, the POTUS ‘pardons’ at least one turkey. This
year, President Obama will pardon one of two turkeys at the White
House today. Either Tater or Tot will get the stay of execution and live
out its days at Virginia Tech. The other will, in all likeliness, become the
official national Thanksgiving turkey.
It will be up to President Trump to do the honors — or not, should he
choose otherwise — next year.
The public presentation of two prize turkeys to the commander-in-chief
in the lead-up to Thanksgiving had been a time-honoured photo op since
the 1940s.

6. But on Nov 17, 1989 - 200 years after George Washington's
proclamation (see above) - President George H.W. Bush formalised the
tradition when he pardoned a 50-pound turkey in the White House Rose
Garden.
“Let me assure you," Bush said to the 30 schoolchildren present. "This
fine turkey will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy. He’s
granted a presidential pardon as of right now.”
Two years earlier Ronald Reagan told the assembled press he would
have "pardoned" Charlie, the White House turkey at the ceremony that
year when he was asked if he would have pardoned the key players in
the Iran-Contra scandal.
The presidential turkey pardon has remained an annual Thanksgiving
ritual ever since.
One can celebrate Thanksgiving twice...
Canadians mark Turkey Day, too, in fact it was the first country to do so.
Canada celebrates a separate Thanksgiving on the second Monday in
October.
It was first celebrated by the arctic explorer Martin Frobisher in 1578 -
more than 40 years before the Pilgrim fathers arrived in the New World.
Football!
Like soccer on Boxing Day in the UK, football (the American version)
plays a major role in Thanksgiving.

7. The University of Detroit Stadium hosted the first Thanksgiving Day
football game in 1934, pitting the Detroit Lions against the Chicago
Bears.
The game was the brainchild of G.A. Richards, the first owner of the
Detroit Lions. He was keen to promote the new franchise in a baseball-
mad city, so he approached NBC to get them to broadcast the game
across their national radio network. They agreed and the game became
the first ever network broadcast event.
The game was such a hit it became a tradition in the US and football is
now an integral part of the day.
Detroit has had played a game every year since, breaking only for World
War 2. The Dallas Cowboys, too, have played every year on
Thanksgiving since 1966, only missing two years in 1975 and 1977.
Annual Macy's parade
Another Thanksgiving tradition is the Macy's parade in New York City
- an annual pageant of floats, cheerleaders, marching bands and gigantic
balloons.
The parade dates back to the 1920s when many of the immigrant
workers at Macy's department store were keen to celebrate the American
holiday with the sort of festival their parents had thrown in Europe.
It originally started from 145th Street in Harlem and ended at Herald
Square, making a 6-mile (9.7 km) route.

8. The newest route was introduced with the 2012 parade. This change
eliminated Times Square and rerouted the parade down Sixth Avenue, a
move that was protested by the Times Square BID, Broadway theatre
owners and other groups.
New York City officials preview the parade route and try to move as
many potential obstacles out of the way, including traffic signals.
Let's talk turkey
When European settlers encountered turkeys for the first time in the
early 1500s, they incorrectly identified the birds as a type of guineafowl.
Since this group of birds were thought to come from Turkey, the North
American bird was dubbed 'turkey fowl'.
This later became shortened to 'turkey' and entered the vernacular. The
English navigator William Strickland, who introduced the turkey into
England in 1550, was granted a coat of arms (left) which included a
"turkey-cock in his pride proper".
The official record of his crest in the archives of the College of Arms is
said to be the oldest surviving European drawing of a turkey.
(In Portuguese the translation of turkey is 'peru'. The exotic birds taken
back to 16th century Portugal had come from there, you see.)
Trains, planes and automobiles: some stats

9. The 12-day Thanksgiving period between from Nov 20 to Dec 1 will
likely see over 25 million travelling to destinations worldwide according
to trade organisation Airlines for America (A4A).
The projected number of 25.3 million is three per cent higher than the
estimated 24.5 million passengers who made the journey in 2014.
That equates to approximately 65,000 people per day on top of average
passengers for a total of 2.7 million people per day.
How's this for Thanksgiving 'carmageddon'?
The title of this section of course refers to the best film ever on the
subject.
Can I celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK?
According the 2011 census there were 177,185 Americans living in
England and Wales so it’s becoming increasingly fashionable for
restaurants and pop-ups to host Thanksgiving meals.
Also a lot Yanks will be coming to the UK on vacation so they will need
to be fed. Here is a list of places to find Thanksgiving dinner in
London plus a round-up of the 13 best places to go enjoy a Thanksgiving
feast in the UK.
Does the UK care about Thanksgiving?
Yes, sort of in a commercial sense, although we maybe don't realise
it. Black Friday first arrived in the UK five years ago when Amazon

10. thought it would try its luck bringing the American shopping sensation
to a new market.
In 2013, Asda, which is owned by American retail giant Walmart,
participated in UK's version of Black Friday, and last year most major
UK retailers including John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Argos and even
British Airways jumped on board.
And with that, any remaining English decorum flew out the window.
Shoppers trampled over each other in their rush to enter stores and
police were called to break up fights as consumers grappled over
discounted televisions and behaved "like animals".
Where can I get a Thanksgiving dinner in London?
Why Thanksgiving would never work in Britain
American expat Sally Peck on her favorite (sic) holiday:
"Thanksgiving would never work in Britain, because it is the day
that self-deprecationforgot. Is it a holiday commemorating the
Anglo-Saxon invasion of a country that already belonged to
someone else? Yes. And what must have been an incredibly
awkward dinner party between invader and invadee? Right
again."
How much do you know about Thanksgiving quotes?
How much do you know about ThanksgivingDay Gift Ideas ?

11. Now test your turkey and Macy's knowledge with our this
Thanksgiving quiz.