Thanksgiving Day

USA

In the USA Thanksgiving Day (or just Thanksgiving) is Date Appointed by the President but it is usually the fourth Thursday in November. It observed as a holiday in all 50 States, but not a legal holiday in all. The President's proclamation recommends that it be set apart as a day of prayer and rejoicing.

The first one being set by Governor Bradford of the Massachusetts colony in December, 1621 to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians.

George Washington issued a thanksgiving proclamation for Thursday, December 18th, 1777, and again at Valley Forge for May 7th, 1778. During the mid-1800s, poet and editor Sarah J. Hale began lobbying for a national Thanksgiving holiday. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation, declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving.

Modern Thanksgiving celebration shares many basic features with Christmas. Food staples include the Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin-pie.

At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of those who argued passionately on behalf of the turkey. Franklin felt the turkey, although "vain and silly", was a better choice than the bald eagle, whom he felt was "a coward".

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving, a sixth of all turkeys sold in the U.S. each year.

The cranberry got its name because the pale pink blossoms on the plant resembled a crane’s head and neck. The name cranberry stuck, eventually becoming cranberry.

The Fourth Thursday in November is on...
November 28th, 2013
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Holidays Tied to Thanksgiving in the USA

Canada

In Canada, Thanksgiving Day or Jour de l'Action de grâce occurs on the second Monday in October (since 1957). It is a day of thanks to coincide with the harvest season.

the Second Monday of October is on...
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Germany

Thanksgiving Around the World

In Grenada, Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated on October 25th. The holiday is unrelated to Thanksgiving Day celebrations in other nations. The holiday observes deposition and execution of Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop after the United States led invasion of the island in 1983.

In Japan, Kinrō Kansha no Hi (Labor Thanksgiving Day) is a national holiday on November 23rd commemorating labor and production and giving one another thanks. It originates from the ancient ceremony Niiname-sai, a harvest festival celebrating hard work.

In Korea, Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day) is a harvest celebration, celebrated according to the lunar calendar, typically in late September or early October. Chuseok is on...

September 19th, 2013 
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In Liberia, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the first Thursday of November by free African Americans (most had been formerly enslaved) who had colonized the country since 1820.

the First Thursday in November is on...
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In Norfolk Island, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the last Wednesday of November, The holiday was brought to the island by visiting American whaling ships.

the Last Wednesday in November is on...
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In the Netherlands, Thanksgiving Day Service is held each year on the morning of the American Thanksgiving Day for Many Pilgrims who migrated to the Plymouth Plantation and those whose family has returned.