President Abraham Lincoln decreed Thanksgiving as a national holiday in September 1863. Prior to that, the observance was sporadically celebrated, mainly in New England, as a day of feasting and merriment after the autumnal harvests. California was not yet a state when military governor General Bennett Riley proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving in November 1849 during the turbulence of the Gold Rush. It is unlikely, however, that very many gold miners abandoned their prospecting to sit down to a groaning table.
Tag: national holidays
The Year to Come
As this New Year 2018 ushers in new opportunities and world-wide concerns, it is well to remember that history-making events don’t occur in a vacuum; they’re instigated by men and women chasing other ambitions or escaping from unsatisfactory conditions. Christopher Columbus was looking for a sea passage Continue reading The Year to Come
Another Golden Year
HAPPY
NEW YEAR
2015
Thanksgiving Trivia
President Abraham Lincoln decreed Thanksgiving as a national holiday in September 1863, following Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Prior to that, the observance was sporadically celebrated, mainly in the American North, as a day Continue reading Thanksgiving Trivia