Thanksgiving Day

As an official state holiday in the US and Canada, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated every year in October. It is celebrated on the second Monday in Canada, and in the US - in November on the fourth Thursday. This is the beginning of the festive season, which includes Christmas and continues until New Year's festivities.

Initially, its meaning was invested with an expression of gratitude and gratitude to God, as well as to family members and friends for good attitude and material well-being. Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated at the end of autumn, and it was known, since ancient times. Initially, it was inherent in agricultural peoples. They offered thanks to the heavens for their rich harvest and for the future abundance. Over time, these celebrations became more widespread and became generally accepted, civil and national.

Interesting facts are known from the history of the holiday. For example, the first settlers from England, who arrived to the American continent on the famous ship "Mayflower" in the distant 1620. They landed in November on shore after a heavy voyage through the stormy ocean and became the founders of the Plymouth colony. Today it is Massachusetts. Half of the migrants could not stand hunger, disease and cold, the rest of the spring, relying on the help of local Indians, began to cultivate an inhospitable rocky land. The reward for their efforts was an unexpectedly rich harvest, and the first governor of the colonists offered to spend Thanksgiving to the Lord in 1621 together with the leader and Indians of that tribe.

Subsequently, it began to be noted occasionally, getting a good harvest, and the first president of the United States, Washington, DC, proposed to mark it annually on November 26 as a national holiday. Over time, the days of celebration changed, and only in 1941 Congress passed the final bill on this matter. Thanksgiving in America received official recognition and became one of the good holidays of Americans.

An ancient, centuries-old tradition of celebrating is the unification of several generations of the family at a common dining table. Usually relatives gather from the oldest member of the family clan. On Thanksgiving for a festive dinner everyone says words of gratitude for all the good things that have happened in life. The menu of the festive table corresponds to what happened in those far years at the first dinner in honor of this day.

Until now, dishes have come not only as a tradition, but also as a symbol of the holiday itself. No Thanksgiving Day in America goes by without a stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce and the famous big sweet pumpkin pie. After all, it's no wonder Americans call this day "turkeyish" ironically or lovingly. Tables decorate the corn cobs, apples, bright young pumpkins, oranges, grapes, like a cornucopia, hanging from the edges of dishes, nuts, dry leaves. All these gifts of nature are also the embodiment of its abundance and generosity. Completing these sensations are magnificent bouquets of chrysanthemums, supplemented with berries and twigs. It is a real feast of the bounty of nature and the rich harvest harvested.

In New York, a grand parade is organized. Its main attraction is the huge size of inflatable toys, and with the arrival of the evening fireworks are arranged over the East River Strait.

Thanksgiving in England has no official status. Although there is a common European tradition to say gratitude for the harvest. Currently, many residents of Britain celebrate this holiday. Celebration can take place in communities, churches or other organizations. On Thanksgiving Day in England, fresh bread is baked and passed on to local churches, and canned goods for the poor or needy are also brought there. At the festive tables of the English there is also an abundance, no less magnificent than that of the Americans, and all with the same traditional turkey.