Question: Why is Thanksgiving celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November?
Answer: In 1939, November had five Thursdays, so retailers asked President Franklin D. Roosevelt to push Thanksgiving back a week to give people more time for holiday shopping. Roosevelt agreed, but many state governors wanted to keep the holiday on the last Thursday of the month. To solve the problem, Congress passed a law in December 1941 proclaiming that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, effective November 1942.
