And why do we celebrate?!

Thanksgiving Day is an annual holiday in the USA and Canada, celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. It is modelled after a 1621 harvest feast shared by English Colonists (pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people. The New England Colonists would regularly celebrate ‘Thanksgivings’, days of prayer thanking God for blessings, such as military victory or the end of drought.

These days it's all about getting together with your close friends and family and eating tonnes of food!

Fun facts about Thanksgiving

• The first feast was three days long.
• Thanksgiving first became a holiday in 1863.
• Around 290 millions Americans eat Turkey on Thanksgiving each year.
• The first Thanksgiving parade in 1924 used live animals from Central Park Zoo until 1927 when they were replaced with giant balloons instead.
• 46 million turkeys are eaten over Thanksgiving.
• The most expensive Thanksgiving meal costs $181,000 dollars at Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City!

Did you know?

• Two turkeys are sent to the White House each year. One will be pardoned whilst the other is kept as a spare in case something happens to the first one before the ceremony! The first turkey was pardoned in 1989.
• Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the busiest day of the year for plumbers as people fail to dispose of their food scraps properly from the day before!
• Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War.
• It is celebrated on the second to last Thursday of the month in November so the date changes every year!
• Traditions include breaking the wishbone from the turkey, watching American football, watching the Macy’s parade and assisting others.

So what are you thankful for?