He urged the people of the United States to celebrate “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.” But Washington believed that particular Thanksgiving in 1789 was a crucial occasion.

Our first president used the holiday to unite a divided nation. So can we. Washington’s Thanksgiving and Ours On Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, George Washington woke early. Assisted by his enslaved ...

On this day in 1789, President George Washington issued his first proclamation of a National Day of Thanksgiving for Thursday, Nov. 26, in honor of the establishment of the new Constitution, which ...

By Lincoln’s day, George Washington had already provided us with a Thanksgiving proclamation that today, nearly two and a half centuries later, still stands as a Thank You that a nation can put ...

Washington was not the only U.S. president to issue proclamations around the November holiday. In 1815, President James Madison called for a national day of prayer and thanksgiving, and in 1863 ...

Before Thanksgiving became the prominent late November holiday, much of America celebrated "Evacuation Day" – commemorating the day the last Redcoats fled New York in 1783.

President George Washington aimed to unify the country with his first Thanksgiving message. Getty Images Maurizio Valsania, Università di Torino On Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, George Washington woke ...

On Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, George Washington woke early. Assisted by his enslaved valets – William “Billy” Lee and the young Christopher Sheels – he powdered his hair, put on his favorite black ...