Date Thanksgiving 2011

Family, Food and Festivities

In the USA the date Thanksgiving 2011 starts is on Thursday 24th of November, with the holiday weekend running through to Sunday the 27th.

Thanksgiving is about spending time with family, preparing delicious food, making simple Thanksgiving crafts, but mostly a time of thanks for what we have and those we love.

In the USA Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. The date for Canadian Thanksgiving 2011, falls on the second Monday in October, that is the 10th of October in 2011.

History of Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is celebrated as a time for family and feasting, although more traditionally as a day of thanks for the blessings of the past year. Thanksgiving originated with the Pilgrims in 1621 after surviving their first harsh winter on a new continent, helped out by the local indigenous people.

Thanksgiving is a historical, national, and religious holiday and originally was in observance of a successful harvest, like many harvest festivals in European nations.
The days and dates of Thanksgiving were celebrated sporadically until, on November 26, 1789, President Washington issued a proclamation of a nation-wide day of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November.

The day was not actually made a public holiday until 1941, after the close of the Second World War, when the fourth Thursday in November was deemed to be the official date designated to Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving parades take place in many communities with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade being the biggest. In 2010 it celebrates it's 84th anniversary, starting at Central Park West and winding through the streets of Manhattan to 34th Street.

Loads more Thanksgiving trivia, crafts, free printables and ideas at Thanksgiving Central.

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