<P> On October 6 , 1941 , both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution fixing the traditional last - Thursday date for the holiday beginning in 1942 . However , in December of that year the Senate passed an amendment to the resolution that split the difference by requiring that Thanksgiving be observed annually on the fourth Thursday of November , which was usually the last Thursday and sometimes ( two years out of seven , on average ) the next to last . The amendment also passed the House , and on December 26 , 1941 , President Roosevelt signed this bill , for the first time making the date of Thanksgiving a matter of federal law and fixing the day as the fourth Thursday of November . </P>
<P> On October 6 , 1941 , both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution fixing the traditional last - Thursday date for the holiday beginning in 1942 . However , in December of that year the Senate passed an amendment to the resolution that split the difference by requiring that Thanksgiving be observed annually on the fourth Thursday of November , which was usually the last Thursday and sometimes ( two years out of seven , on average ) the next to last . The amendment also passed the House , and on December 26 , 1941 , President Roosevelt signed this bill , for the first time making the date of Thanksgiving a matter of federal law and fixing the day as the fourth Thursday of November . </P>
when was thanksgiving changed to the fourth thursday
when was thanksgiving changed to the fourth thursday
December 26 , 1941
December 26 , 1941