<P> Thanksgiving Day fell during Hanukkah at least twice between 1863 (when Thanksgiving was proclaimed a U.S. federal holiday by President Abraham Lincoln) and 2013: in 1888 Thanksgiving was the first day of Hanukkah, and in 1899 it was the fourth day . The 1888 coincidence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah attracted some media attention at the time, with the New York Herald reporting on joint Thanksgiving--Hanukkah services held in "various synagogues" and a sermon given by Rabbi Frederick de Sola Mendes . </P> <P> Thanksgiving occurred later in 1888 and 1899 than is possible under current U.S. law: as a result of changes between 1939 and 1941, Thanksgiving is always held on the fourth Thursday in November . The last time the fourth Thursday of November fell within Hanukkah before 2013 was in 1861, before Thanksgiving existed . As a result of this confusion, some media reports have mistakenly claimed that Thanksgivukkah had never occurred prior to 2013 . </P> <P> Because the Gregorian and Jewish calendars have slightly different average year lengths, over time they drift out of sync with each other . As a result of this, the first day of Hanukkah will not precede or coincide with Thanksgiving Day again in the foreseeable future . (One physicist has calculated that, if the Jewish calendar is not revised, Thursday, November 28 will not fall during Hanukkah again until the year 79811, once it has drifted all the way around the cycle of the Gregorian calendar and back to November . Many media sources have reported this "tongue - in - cheek" calculation as a serious estimate of the date of the next Thanksgivukkah .) However, since the Jewish day does not begin at midnight, but on the sunset before it, there will be two more years in which Hanukkah and Thanksgiving partially overlap, with the first night of Hanukkah beginning in the evening of Thanksgiving . These will be the evenings of Thursday, November 27, 2070 and Thursday, November 28, 2165 . (The most recent such year was 1918 .) </P> <P> Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston said he would proclaim November 28, 2013, "Thanksgivukkah," saying through a spokeswoman: "This is a big deal, a once - in - a-lifetime event ." Massachusetts State Representative Louis Kafka and local rabbi David Paskin planned to host a gathering close to Thanksgivukkah, that will include a turkey - shaped menorah to give to fellow representatives to put in the Massachusetts State House . U.S. President Barack Obama gave a speech likening the struggles of the Maccabees to those of the Pilgrims . </P>

When was the last time thanksgiving fell on november 22