When President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving, his decree positioned the holiday on the last Thursday of November. But in 1939, a year when November had five Thursdays, a retail association convinced President Franklin Roosevelt to move Thanksgiving to the second-to-last Thursday, a change made only a month beforehand in October.
Such placement would encourage more sales for the holiday season, or so the reasoning went. A few states rejected the idea and observed the holiday on the final Thursday in November. Millions had travel plans altered and many colleges had to move Thanksgiving weekend rivalry games at the last minute. This dual-turkeydom lasted three years until a compromise was reached in 1942 and the holiday moved to the fourth Thursday of November in 1942, on which it is celebrated to this day.
Had the holiday remained a week earlier, would it be easier to extend the College Football Playoffs?
