The fourth Thursday in November is Thanksgiving in the United States, serving as both a day of giving thanks and as a harvest festival. It should not be confused with similar Thanksgivings in Canada and other countries.

The central tradition associated with the day is a feast amongst family. Turkey is commonly served as the main dish, along with other foods such as cranberries, squash, potatoes, pumpkin pie, and corn. Other traditional activities include religious services, watching football, and viewing parades such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Thanksgiving observances in the New World were known to have occurred as far back as the 16th century, but the most prominent one was held in 1621 at the Plymouth Plantation in the future Massachusetts by Pilgrims who had fled Britain to found a colony. After landing the previous year, the subsequent winter killed half the colonists, but the local Patuxet Indians helped them with food resources when supplies from Britain were inadequate and then helped them learn to grow various native foods the following summer. After a bountiful harvest, the Pilgrims celebrated with three days of feasting in which they were joined by members of local friendly native tribes.

Although other days of thanksgiving followed, originally as religious and then civil holidays, it wasn't until 1863, during the American Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving, when it would be observed annually until 1939, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pushed it back to the fourth Thursday in November (as that year had five Thursdays) to extend the holiday shopping season in a bid to help pull the US out of the Great Depression. In subsequent years with four Thursdays in the month, he tried to push Thanksgiving back to the third Thursday, but pushback from Republicans and various organizations led, in 1941, Congress to officially designate the fourth Thursday of every November as a national holiday.

More Information

Thanksgiving (United States) (Wikipedia))

Also see

• November (month)