NOVEMBER 28 - Today in Food History• THANKSGIVING DAY 2024 (Nov 28, 2024: 4th Thurs) The first national Thanksgiving Day, proclaimed by President George Washington, was celebrated on Nov. 26, 1789, the LAST Thursday of the month.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an Official Annual Holiday to be commemorated on the LAST Thursday in November.
In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed Thanksgiving from the LAST Thursday in November to the THIRD Thursday (the last Thursday, usually the 4th but occasionally a 5th Thursday, was thought to be too close to Christmas holidays).
Three years later, in December 1941, a joint session of Congress changed it to the FOURTH Thursday in November (in part because not all states complied with Roosevelt's choice). (Thanksgiving Articles)
(Thanksgiving Trivia --- Thanksgiving Quotes) • National French Toast Day
(French Toast Origin -- French Toast Recipes) • Alice’s Restaurant Massacree Day (see 1965 below) • National Family Week in U.S. (Nov 24-30, 2024 - Thanksgiving Week) Organizations have promoted National Family Week for more than 40 years. An annual celebration observed during the week of Thanksgiving, designed to build community connections and honor those who strengthen families. • UK: [National Tree Week] (Nov 23-Dec 1, 2024)
On this day in:1520 Three ships under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed from the Atlantic Ocean through the passage now known as the Straits of Magellan, and entered the "Sea of the South" on November 28, 1520. This sailing was the first westward crossing of the Pacific Ocean. Magellan was killed in fighting with the natives in the Philippines on April 27, 1521. The following September, one of the fleet's ships returned to Spain laden with spices, thereby completing the first circumnavigation of the globe and vindicating Magellan's vision of an alternate route to the Spice Islands. 1837 John Wesley Hyatt was born. He developed the process for making celluloid, the first synthetic plastic. He also invented a water purifying system and a sugar cane mill.
1863 Thanksgiving was first celebrated as a regular American Holiday.
1869 W.F. Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio, was issued the first chewing gum patent in 1869.
(Chewing Gum Trivia & Facts) 1930 After a sandstorm in Morocco, there was a rain of mud in Paris and yellow sand fell in Spain.
1942 Fire destroyed the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts killing nearly 500 people. 1948 The first Polaroid Land Camera went on sale in Boston. This was the first successful self-developing camera; it took a photo about 1 minute to develop.
1965 Folk singer/songwriter Arlo Guthrie (son of Woody Guthrie) was convicted of littering in the Berkshire County town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and the song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" was born (YouTube). (see also Nov 22, 1967)
1967 All horse racing in Britain has been cancelled indefinitely to help prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease 2006 Texas Republican state Rep. Betty Brown filed a bill (HCR 15) in the Texas legislature which would declare Athens, Texas as the "original home of the hamburger.” Residents of New Haven, Connecticut strongly objected.
(See also Louis Lunch -- Hamburger Trivia & Facts)
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