Happy Thanksgiving and a Little History

Happy Thanksgiving to every one celebrating today.

My husband couldn’t understand why it’s such a big holiday in the US. We’re Canadian and celebrate in October, but it’s not that big of a family holiday. Christmas is much bigger for us.

I said it was because the first Thanksgiving would have been a pilgrim celebration after the first harvesting of the crops. It would have been a big family and friend’s celebration, but thought I should check it out. Off to good old Wikipedia and here’s what I found.

The event commonly called the “First thanksgiving” was celebrated by the pilgrims after the first harvest in the New World in October, 1621. It laste3d three days and was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims. I was surprised because I thought it would have been closer to the date celebrated today.

Today Thanksgiving is a public holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. It has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789, after a proclamation by George Washington. It has been celebrated as a federal holiday every year since 1863, when, during the American civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens,” to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.

Now it’s a huge family getting together around turkey, stuffing, and football. Together with Christmas and the New Year, Thanksgiving is the beginning of the holiday season.