Thanksgiving 2023: History, significance, traditions of America's beloved holiday

Thanksgiving 2023: Americans have a Thanksgiving feast, whose star attraction is turkey.

Millions of Americans mark Thanksgiving on November 23, Thursday, a time when the country witnesses its busiest travel period. The Thanksgiving holiday celebrates one of the country's founding myths and marks the beginning of the Christmas season.

Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the last Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving History

The origins of Thanksgiving trace back to a 1621 feast hosted by a community of Protestant Puritans, now recognized as the Pilgrims, celebrating their inaugural bountiful harvest in the "New World."

After landing on the Mayflower in what is today Massachusetts the previous year, half died over the hard winter. The newcomers had to rely on help from Native American tribes or in some cases stole from them.

Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in the US in 1863, although harvest festivals were already traditional.

Thanksgiving Traditions

On Thanksgiving, Americans travel far and wide to spend the occasion with their immediate families. A family tradition for Thanksgiving is having a huge meal together around the dining table, something that has been familiarised across the world through Hollywood films and American sitcoms. People also watch a fame of football on television on this day.

In the 17th century, the first Thanksgiving meal had deer, corn and shellfish on the table. Nowadays, a Thanksgiving feast consists of the star attraction of turkey stuffed with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and a variety of pies, usually including apple and the seasonal pumpkin.

Also on TV is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Three hours long, it is said to be the world's biggest and is known for its huge balloons that are trailed between the skyscrapers of New York's Fifth Avenue.

Thanksgiving 2023: Wishes, greetings, pics, images and messages to share

Thanksgiving at White House

At White House, an annual tradition sees the US President ‘pardon’ a turkey, the centrepiece of most holiday tables, from the carving knife.

The origin of the pardoning tradition is unclear -- tales of spared turkeys date back to the 19th-century and the days of Abraham Lincoln whose son, the story goes, convinced him to let a bird live.

John F Kennedy was the first president to formally spare a turkey, in November 1963, but it wasn't until the days of George H.W. Bush in 1989, that pardoning became a White House ritual.

(With inputs from AFP)