Thanksgiving 2023: History, Significance & All You Need to Know

Thanksgiving celebrates the harvest and other blessings of the past year. It officially marks the beginning of the festive season and is a national holiday observed on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. The day is celebrated in several other countries as well, such as Brazil, Germany, Canada, Japan, and more. Here's all you need to know about the history, significance, and celebrations

Thanksgiving 2023: How Did ItStart?

- Thanksgiving is a celebration deep-rooted in the American tradition and rituals. It was first celebrated in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe as a tribute to the harvest and blessings of the previous year. The two held a lavish feast to celebrate their survival and the arrival of winter.

- The holiday was then observed by numerous separate colonies and states. However, it was in 1863 that the occasion was declared a national holiday by President Abraham Lincoln.

-Presidents after him continued to declare it a holiday every year. On October 6, 1941, Congress passed a joint resolution declaring the last Thursday of November to be the legal Thanksgiving Day. The Senate, however, amended the resolution establishing the holiday on the fourth Thursday.

The next year in 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation, designating the fourth Thursday in November as what we know today as Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving: Significance

-Thanksgiving is observed yearly as a way to express thanks for the blessings and sacrifices made during the previous year.  

 -Gathering over a delicious feast, families and friends celebrate their relationships and happiness with traditional Thanksgiving meals which include turkey, bread stuffing, potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie.