Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanksgiving is a legal holiday in the U.S. It was first celebrated in early colonial times in New England, although its origins probably lie in traditional harvest festivals. After the first harvest was completed by the Plymouth colonists in 1621, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared by all the colonists and neighboring Indians. In 1623 a day of fasting and prayer during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain came during the prayers. In New England it gradually became a custom to celebrate thanksgiving after the harvest.

In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom, and by the middle of the 19th century many other states had done the same. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a day of thanksgiving, and it has been celebrated since then, generally on the fourth Thursday of November as a holiday.

Thanksgiving is also celebrated in Canada, but it falls on the second Monday in October.

Text adapted from history.com