Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated in the USA and Canada as a day for families and friends to get together for a special meal. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada. The meal often includes a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie, and vegetables. Thanksgiving Day is a time for many people to give thanks for what they have. Thanksgiving Day parades are also held in some cities and towns. But how did this holiday start?
A bit of history
The first Thanksgiving took place in 1621, in Plymouth, Massachussets, where the European colonists (often called ‘Pilgrims’) organised a feast to thank the local Indians for helping them produce their first successful corn harvest. For more than two centuries, different days of thanksgiving were celebrated by different colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863, during the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held on the fourth Thursday of November.
If you want to know more about the history of the holiday, watch this funny video of Plymouth Rock (where the European colonists landed in 1960) telling the whole story!
Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving