Thanksgiving in America nears its 400th anniversary

Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated by Americans. Most Americans believe that the first American Thanksgiving was the Harvest Festival of 1621 with the Pilgrims celebrated with the Wanaponoag Indians.

The Pilgrims, or Pilgrim Fathers, were the 102 English settlers who established the Plymouth Colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts after leaving England on the Mayflower.

The Harvest of 1621 was a feast put together by Governor William Bradford who invited the local Indians to join the meal.

The Pilgrims, who were Puritans, celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion, but it did not become a national holiday until 1863, when President George Washington declared that it should be celebrated on the last Thursday of each November.

Today, it is celebrated with football, the Macy’s Parade and a big family dinner, usually with a turkey as the main course.