Thanksgiving is celebrated annually in the United States on the fourth Thursday of November. It commemorates the 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people. The first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World succeeded. They gave thanks to God for helping them through the long journey across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the Mayflower and surviving the harsh New England winter with the help of the indigenous Wampanoag people.