Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the US and other countries, recalling the harvest feast shared in 1621 between the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and Wampanoag Native Americans. The Pilgrims arrived in North America on the Mayflower in 1620 after fleeing religious persecution in England and established the colony, but many suffered or died during the first difficult winter. The following year, the Wampanoag taught the settlers how to farm corn and the successful harvest was celebrated with a three-day feast between the groups. This tradition became an official national holiday in 1863.

2. Thanksgiving Day is usually celebrated
on the fourth Thursday of November in
the USA and other countries. On this
day, families gather together, and
many people say prayers of thanks for
the years blessings.

3. A small ship called the Mayflower set sail
from Plymouth, England, on September 16,
1620. The passengers spent 66 days in the
hold of the ship arriving on November 21.

4. Most of them were Puritans who had been persecuted
for their religious beliefs in England.
They founded the Colony of Plymouth in December
1620. Most of the Pilgrims had suffered terribly from
the long voyage. Many people became sick and died.

5. The following spring, friendly Indians helped the
settlers to plant corn, and in the autumn, the first
crop was harvested. Governor William Bradford
proclaimed three days of prayer and thanksgiving.
The Pilgrims gave a huge feast and invited the
Indian Chief and 90 of his people.

6. The first Thanksgiving lasted
three days and they ate fish,
turkey, deer, potatoes, corn
and pumpkin.

7. In 1863, President
Abraham Lincoln
proclaimed the first
national Thanksgiving
Day on the last
Thursday in November.