On Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, George Washington woke early. Assisted by his enslaved valets ... He urged the people of the United States to celebrate “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. ...

Our first president used the holiday to unite a divided nation. So can we. Washington’s Thanksgiving and Ours On Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, George Washington woke early. Assisted by his enslaved ...

Henry David Thoreau in 1856, George Washington in 1797 and Mark Twain in 1907 ... requested me ‘to recommend to the people of the United States a Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer, ...

George Washington, our first president, issued the first official Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789, but the national holiday didn’t begin until 1863, two years into the Civil War, when it was ...

Washington was not the only U.S. president to issue proclamations around the November holiday. In 1815, President James Madison called for a national day of prayer and thanksgiving, and in 1863 ...

President George Washington aimed to unify the country with his first Thanksgiving message. Getty Images Maurizio Valsania, Università di Torino On Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, George Washington woke ...

On Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, George Washington woke early. Assisted by his enslaved valets – William “Billy” Lee and the young Christopher Sheels – he powdered his hair, put on his favorite black ...