Most of us
have heard about Thanksgiving
but may not be quite familiar with it
like when is Thanksgiving?
Which countries celebrate it?
And Why do they have thanksgiving?
Today we are going to take a deep look
at its history and celebration.
First, Thanksgiving is celebrated
only by two countries in the world.
They are the United States and Canada,
but they celebrate it
on different dates.
In the United States,
people celebrate thanksgiving
on the fourth Thursday of November.
In other words,
the last Thursday of November.
And in Canada,
Thanksgiving is celebrated
on the second Monday of October.
The history of thanksgiving in Canada
is quite short.
It has become an official holiday
until 1957
but Thanksgiving in the United States
has a long history.
It has been an official holiday
since 1863.
So what is thanksgiving?
Historically it is to say
thanks for giving the harvest.
In 1620,
the cargo ship Mayflower transported
102 Englishmen, women and children
to the new world.
Some of them were separatists.
They were a group of people
who had religiously separated themselves
from the church in England
and wanted to come to the new world
to find religious freedom.
These people were also called pilgrims.
The Mayflower ship
arrived at the new world
in December 1620.
They arrived
in the state of Massachusetts.
It was winter
and the circumstances were harsh.
Nearly half of the people died
and those who did not feel ill.
In the Spring of the next year,
the situation became better.
Several local Indians visited this place
and offered a hand to them.
They taught them
how to use fish as fertilizer
to grow crops on sandy land.
Some even chose to live with them
for better help.
By November
things were looking up for pilgrims.
They had survived
the first year in the new world
and had successful harvests
to continue living there.
The pilgrims collected their harvests
which could include
corn, pumpkins, squash and some grain.
They caught fish and wild birds
to feast on celebration.
They invited the local Indians
to join their celebration
and the celebration lasted for 3 days.
For the pilgrims,
the celebration
was not for the start of a new holiday.
It was a common harvest festival,
much like the ones held in Europe,
every fall after a good harvest.
Thanksgiving as we know today
was made possible
largely by the efforts
of a 19th century writer
named Sara Joseph Hale.
She was the America¡¯s first
female magazine editor and
the author of a famous nursery rhyme
Mary had a Little Lamb.
During the civil war,
Hale was convinced that
a national thanksgiving day
would awaken in American hearts
the love of home and country,
of thankfulness to God,
and peace between brethren.
She wrote letters to governors
and even to President Abraham Lincoln.
A few days after receiving her letter
on October 3rd 1863,
President Lincoln had declared
the last Thursday of November
as Thanksgiving Day.
In modern days,
people travel back home
for reunions with their families.
For Thanksgiving dinner,
they often eat turkey, stuffing,
mashed potatoes with gravy,
sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn,
turnips, rolls and pumpkin pie.
Football is another tradition
during Thanksgiving celebrations
in the United States.
It could be traced back to 1934.
The Detroit Lions
came up with an idea of
holding Thanksgiving Day football game
in order to boost audience attendance.
It turned out to be very successful.
They sold out 26 thousand tickets
in two weeks.
After that,
it became a tradition
all over the country
that Thanksgiving day
became the day to play football.
For those
who aren¡¯t football fans however
may opt to spend the time
enjoying watching Macy¡¯s Parade.
Macy¡¯s Thanksgiving Day Parade
is an annual parade presented
by the department store Macy's.
The tradition started in 1924.
Macy¡¯s Department Store
started their Thanksgiving Day Parade
which headed
down to the streets of New York
and ended at the store.
The tradition has been going on
for over 80 years.
In the modern day,
the Parade has floats,
huge character balloons,
hundreds of crowns,
acrobats and cheerleaders.
It attracts thousands of people
to watch
The parade lasts three hours
starting at 9:00 a.m.
and has been televised nationally
on NBC since 1952.
So much for the Thanksgiving.
Next, let¡¯s take a quiz.
If you have the difficulty,
please watch the video again
and I hope this will help you
learn better in the class.