When is Thanksgiving in 2014?

The date of Thanksgiving in 2014 is on Thursday, November 27th. 

What is Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is observed on the fourth Thursday in the month of November.  It is a holiday that is primarily celebrated in the United States but is also popular in Canada, where it was actually celebrated prior to the United States. The national holiday is dedicated to giving thanks for family and friends and is characterized by large gatherings and feasts where turkey is consumed. 

Thanksgiving originated in the year 1621 at Pymouth in modern-day Massachusetts when the Pilgrims and Native Americans held a joint celebration and feast to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. 

Up until 1863, various states celebrated Thanksgiving on different days towards the end of the year. The celebrations were held after the harvest and before the approaching winter. In 1863, President Abrham Lincoln made a presidential proclomation to have Thanksgiving celebrated on the same date throughout the United States, which was to be the final Thursday in November. Even though President Lincoln made the Thanksgiving proclomation in 1863, the United States as a whole did not celebrate Thanksgiving on the same date until the 1870's when the United States was reconstructed following the Civil War between the northern and southern states. In 1941, President Franklin. D. Roosevelt along with the United States Congress signed a joint resolution to have the national date of Thanksgiving to be moved from the final Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday in November. 

The most popular Thanksgiving 2014 traditions are Thanksgiving meals with friends and family, NFL games, and the large Thanksgiving day parades including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and the oldest American Thanksgiving day parade, 6abc's Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia.