Thanksgiving (United States)
| Thanksgiving | |
|---|---|
Thanksgiving at Plymouth, oil on canvas, by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, 1925 | |
| Observed by | United States |
| Type | National |
| Celebrations | Giving thanks, prayer, feasting, spending time with family, religious services, football games, parades[1][a] |
| Date | Fourth Thursday in November |
| 2024 date | November 28 |
| 2025 date | November 27 |
| 2026 date | November 26 |
| 2027 date | November 25 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Related to |
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Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November (which became the uniform date country-wide in 1941).[2][3] Outside the United States, it is sometimes called American Thanksgiving to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions. The modern national celebration dates to 1863; prior to this, it was a regional holiday, whose origins lie in the 17th and 18th century days of thanksgiving of Calvinist New England. The evolution of the holiday was not linear (various New England communities had independently developed their own similar traditions that were slowly harmonized into a singular annual Thanksgiving Day) and, although commonly associated with it today, did not originate from the pervasively mythologized1621 Pilgrim harvest celebration.[4]
As the name implies, the theme of the holiday generally revolves around giving thanks and the centerpiece of most celebrations is a Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends.[5][6]
The dinner often consists of foods associated with New England harvest celebrations: turkey, potatoes (usually mashed and sweet), squash, corn (maize), green beans, cranberries (typically as cranberry sauce), and pumpkin pie. It has expanded over the years to include specialties from other regions of the United States, such as macaroni and cheese and pecan pie in the South and wild rice stuffing in the Great Lakes region, as well as international and ethnic dishes.
Other Thanksgiving customs include charitable organizations offering Thanksgiving dinner for the poor, attending religious services, and watching or participating in parades and American football games. Thanksgiving is also typically regarded as the beginning of the holiday shopping season, with the day after, Black Friday, often considered to be the busiest retail shopping day of the year in the United States. Cyber Monday, the online equivalent, is held on the Monday following Thanksgiving.
- ^ a b Counihan, Carole (2013). Food in the USA: A Reader. Routledge. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-135-32359-2.
- ^ Brown, Tanya Ballard (November 21, 2012). "How Did Thanksgiving End Up On The Fourth Thursday?". NPR.
- ^ 5 U.S.C. ยง 6103
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Bakerwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Forbes, Bruce David (2015). America's Favorite Holidays: Candid Histories. University of California Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-520-28472-2.
- ^ Garrison, Greg (November 27, 2019). "Saying grace is a Thanksgiving tradition, like turkey". Advance Publications. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
Family gatherings on Thanksgiving in Alabama usually have one ingredient that's as common as turkey: saying grace. In houses that say a blessing over the food, it's common that no one's allowed to take a bite until the blessing has been said. In the South, a Thanksgiving blessing usually involves some extemporaneous praying by someone who knows how. For some, saying grace before meals is a year-round tradition.
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