The date of Thanksgiving was, indirectly, determined by holiday shoppers.
感恩節的日期是間接地由節日採購者們所決定而來的。

From the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, in a custom started by US President Abraham Lincoln, the president would declare a "day of thanks giving" on the last Thursday in November. This could either fall on the fourth or fifth Thursday in the month.
自十九世紀中至二十世紀初，美國前總統林肯發起了一項習俗，就是會在十一月的最後一個星期四宣佈當天為感恩節。而這一天就可能會是在當月的第四或第五個星期四。

But in 1939, a funny thing happened - the last Thursday happened to be the last day in November. Retailers, worried about the shortened holiday shopping season, petitioned then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to declare the holiday a week earlier - which he did.
不過在1939年時發生了一件有趣的事情─最後一個星期四剛好是十一月的最後一天。零售商們擔心這樣會縮短了節日購物季的時程，就像當時的美國總統小羅斯福來請願，讓他宣佈提早一週來宣佈感恩節，而他照做了。

For the next three years, Thanksgiving was known derisively as "Franksgiving" and celebrated on different days in different parts of the country.
在其後的三年，感恩節就被諷刺地認為是「羅斯福牌感恩節」，並在美國各地的不同日期來慶祝。

Finally, at the end of 1941, a joint resolution from Congress cleared up the matter. From then on, Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November - guaranteeing an extra week of shopping before Christmas.
最後，在1941年底，國會的一份聯合決議將這件事情做出澄清。從那時起，感恩節就是在十一月的第四個星期四來慶祝，這樣就能保障民眾在聖誕節前有額外的一週時間來購物。

花旗美語07-2161001
http://www.whatseng.com/