Thanksgiving

Following its discovery by Europeans, the American continent was inhabited in the 1500s by both white settlers and American Indians. In the USA today, this racial mix is remembered at Thanksgiving, originally celebrated, as in this illustration, with a meal of local foods.

National holiday in the USA (fourth Thursday in November) and Canada (second Monday in October), first celebrated by the Pilgrim settlers in Massachusetts after their first harvest in 1621.

In the USA it was proclaimed a national holiday 1863. The current date has been celebrated, by act of Congress, since 1942. The original day of thanksgiving was proclaimed by Plymouth governor William Bradford after the Pilgrims had survived their first winter, owing largely to help from their Indian ally Massasoit.