The modern holiday is generally modeled after a harvest feast celebrated in 1621 by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people.

• The celebration did not become an annual national holiday until 1863, during the Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.

• The date was officially fixed by Congress in 1941 as the fourth Thursday in November.

• Note: It is important to acknowledge that for some Native Americans, the holiday is observed as a National Day of Mourning, recognizing the subsequent colonization and displacement that followed the initial peaceful encounter.