Thanksgiving - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanksgiving is a holiday in the United States and Canada when people give thanks. In the United States, it is on the fourth Thursday of November. In Canada, it is on the second Monday of October.

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln said the last Thursday of November would be a national Day of Thanksgiving for the United States.^[1] American immigrants brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada, beginning on April 5, 1872. The United States Congress permanently made the fourth Thursday of each November as a national holiday in the year 1941. In 1957, Canada made the second Monday of each October a national holiday. Thanksgiving was first celebrated to give thanks for the harvest.

The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first feast in the New World in October 1621. This feast lasted three days. Edward Winslow, who was there, said that 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims were there. More people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving than Christmas and New Year. Americans eat 46 million turkeys or more each Thanksgiving.^[2]

• Thanksgiving (United States)

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