Thanksgiving Day 2025: Everything You Need to Know (USA Guide)

Thanksgiving Day is one of the most beloved and widely celebrated holidays in the United States. In 2025, Thanksgiving falls on **Thursday, November 27** — always the fourth Thursday in November.

When is Thanksgiving 2025?

– **Date**: Thursday, November 27, 2025  
– **Federal Holiday**: Yes – banks, post offices, most schools, and many businesses are closed.  
– **Day after (Black Friday)**: November 28, 2025 – biggest shopping day of the year.

## Full History of Thanksgiving in the United States

### The First Thanksgiving (1621)
The original Thanksgiving took place in **Plymouth, Massachusetts**, in **autumn of 1621**.  
After a brutal first winter that killed nearly half of the Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620, the surviving English settlers celebrated a successful harvest with the **Wampanoag Native Americans**.  
– Lasted **three days**  
– Featured fowl (likely ducks and geese), venison (deer brought by the Wampanoag), corn, and possibly lobster and clams  
– **No turkey, pumpkin pie, or cranberries** recorded at the original feast

### From Harvest Celebration to National Holiday
– 1623: Plymouth held another thanksgiving after rain ended a drought  
– Throughout the 1700s: Individual colonies and states proclaimed their own thanksgiving days  
– 1789: President George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation, declaring **November 26** a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer”

### Sarah Josepha Hale – The “Mother of Thanksgiving”
For **40 years**, author and editor Sarah Josepha Hale (writer of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”) campaigned to make Thanksgiving a permanent national holiday.  
She wrote letters to five U.S. presidents before finally succeeding with **Abraham Lincoln**.

### Official National Holiday (1863)
On October 3, 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, President Lincoln proclaimed the **last Thursday of November** as Thanksgiving Day to foster unity.  
Every president after him continued the tradition.

### FDR and the “Franksgiving” Controversy (1939–1941)
During the Great Depression, retailers asked President Franklin D. Roosevelt to move Thanksgiving up one week to extend the Christmas shopping season.  
– 1939 & 1940: Thanksgiving moved to the **second-to-last Thursday** in November  
– Caused massive confusion: 32 states followed FDR, 16 kept the traditional last Thursday  
– Nicknamed **“Franksgiving”** by critics  
– In 1941, Congress passed a law fixing Thanksgiving permanently on the **fourth Thursday of November**

## How Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving Today

### Classic Thanksgiving Foods

– Roasted turkey (centerpiece for 88% of American families)  
– Stuffing/dressing  
– Mashed potatoes & gravy  
– Cranberry sauce  
– Green bean casserole  
– Sweet potatoes or yams (often with marshmallows)  
– Pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie  
– Dinner rolls

### Thanksgiving Day Traditions

1. **Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade** (New York City) – Started 1924, watched by 50+ million on TV  
2. **NFL Football** – Three games every year (since 1920):  
   – Early game: Detroit Lions host (traditional since 1934)  
   – Afternoon game: Dallas Cowboys host (since 1966)  
   – Primetime game: Rotates yearly  
   In 2025: Lions vs. Bears, Cowboys vs. Giants, and night game TBD  
3. **Turkey Trot races** – 5K/10K runs in nearly every city  
4. **Presidential Turkey Pardon** – President spares one or two turkeys live on TV  
5. **Family gatherings** – Largest travel weekend of the year (55+ million Americans travel)  
6. **Thanksgiving Eve** – Busiest bar night of the year as people return home

Thanksgiving 2025 Special Notes

– 403rd anniversary of the 1621 harvest feast  
– First Thanksgiving after the Los Angeles Dodgers won back-to-back World Series  
– Expected to be one of the busiest travel days ever (AAA predicts record 80 million travelers)

Thanksgiving remains a day when Americans pause to give thanks for blessings, share meals with loved ones, and kick off the holiday season. Whether you’re watching giant balloons float down Manhattan, cheering for the Lions or Cowboys, or just enjoying turkey and pie with family, Thanksgiving is truly America’s holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving 2025 from all of us at Click USA News – may your plate be full and your heart be fuller!