What date did George Washington proclaim for the first U.S. national Thanksgiving?

George Washington proclaimed Thursday, November 26, 1789, as the first national Thanksgiving under the new United States government.

Washington issued the proclamation on October 3, 1789, in New York City, following a request from Congress. It called on people to observe a day of public thanksgiving and prayer for the nation’s blessings and the successful establishment of its government.

The proclamation was not the first thanksgiving declaration connected with the United States. The Continental Congress had issued national thanksgiving proclamations during the Revolutionary War, including one in 1777. Washington’s action was the first presidential Thanksgiving proclamation under the Constitution.

The 1789 observance did not create the modern annual holiday on a permanent basis. Presidents issued occasional Thanksgiving proclamations afterward, while state governments set their own observances. Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation helped establish the recurring national tradition more closely associated with Thanksgiving today.