Thanksgiving Calculator — When Is Thanksgiving?
Enter any year to find the exact date of US Thanksgiving — the 4th Thursday of November. See the day of week, day of year, and where the holiday sits in the calendar.
- 1
Weekday of November 1
SundayThe starting weekday determines how far the first Thursday falls. - 2
Days to first Thursday
(4 − 0) mod 7 = 4 - 3
First Thursday of November
1 + 4 = 5 - 4
Thanksgiving (4th Thursday)
5 + 21 = 26
How does this calculator work?
US Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, fixed by Congress in 1941. It falls between November 22 and November 28. To find it: determine the weekday of November 1, advance to the first Thursday, then add 21 days (three weeks).
Formula
How this is calculated
US Thanksgiving is legally defined as the fourth Thursday of November (Public Law 77-379, 1941, first observed 1942). To compute the date algorithmically: find the weekday of November 1 for the target year, count forward to the first Thursday of the month (0–6 days), then add 21 days to reach the fourth Thursday. Because November 1 cycles through all seven weekdays over the Gregorian 400-year period, Thanksgiving can land on any date from November 22 (when Nov 1 is a Thursday) to November 28 (when Nov 1 is a Friday).
The modern fixed rule replaced a more fluid history. President Lincoln issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation in 1863, setting it on the last Thursday of November. In 1939 President Roosevelt controversially moved it one week earlier to lengthen the Christmas shopping season — a period the press dubbed "Franksgiving" — creating confusion in states that kept the old date. Congress ended the dispute in 1941 by fixing the fourth Thursday of November in statute.
This calculator applies the current fourth-Thursday rule to all years from 1863 onward, even though the actual presidential proclamation date may have differed before 1942. Canadian Thanksgiving (second Monday of October) is a separate holiday not computed here.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Thanksgiving falls on November 22 when November 1 is a Thursday, and on November 28 when November 1 is a Friday. All dates from 22 to 28 are possible, cycling through as Gregorian leap years shift the weekday of November 1. The most recent November 28 Thanksgiving was in 2019; the most recent November 22 was in 2018.
Congress passed the Thanksgiving statute in December 1941, effective for 1942. Before that the date was set annually by presidential proclamation. Lincoln started the modern tradition in 1863 (last Thursday of November); Roosevelt moved it earlier in 1939–1941, creating the so-called Franksgiving controversy before Congress settled on the fourth Thursday permanently.
No. Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday of October, rooted in a different (earlier) harvest tradition that predates the American holiday. This calculator computes only the US date. For Canadian Thanksgiving: find the weekday of October 1, count to the first Monday, then add 7 days.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Thanksgiving Calculator — When Is Thanksgiving? [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/thanksgiving-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Thanksgiving Calculator — When Is Thanksgiving?." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/thanksgiving-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Thanksgiving Calculator — When Is Thanksgiving?," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/thanksgiving-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_thanksgiving_calculator, title = {Thanksgiving Calculator — When Is Thanksgiving?}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/thanksgiving-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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