<P> The Pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth for three days after their first harvest in 1621 . The exact time is unknown , but James Baker , the Plimoth Plantation vice president of research , stated in 1996 , `` The event occurred between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11 , 1621 , with the most likely time being around Michaelmas ( Sept. 29 ) , the traditional time . '' Seventeenth - century accounts do not identify this as a Thanksgiving observance , rather it followed the harvest . It included 50 persons who were on the Mayflower ( all who remained of the 100 who had landed ) and 90 Native Americans . The feast was cooked by the four adult Pilgrim women who survived their first winter in the New World ( Eleanor Billington , Elizabeth Hopkins , Mary Brewster , and Susanna White ) , along with young daughters and male and female servants . </P>
<P> The Pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth for three days after their first harvest in 1621 . The exact time is unknown , but James Baker , the Plimoth Plantation vice president of research , stated in 1996 , `` The event occurred between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11 , 1621 , with the most likely time being around Michaelmas ( Sept. 29 ) , the traditional time . '' Seventeenth - century accounts do not identify this as a Thanksgiving observance , rather it followed the harvest . It included 50 persons who were on the Mayflower ( all who remained of the 100 who had landed ) and 90 Native Americans . The feast was cooked by the four adult Pilgrim women who survived their first winter in the New World ( Eleanor Billington , Elizabeth Hopkins , Mary Brewster , and Susanna White ) , along with young daughters and male and female servants . </P>
when did the first thanksgiving take place ( year month day )
when did the first thanksgiving take place ( year month day )
between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11 , 1621
between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11 , 1621