Thanksgiving 2021: What it is and why do Americans celebrate it?

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November annually in the United States. The days marks when people of the US pay gratitude for the blessings of the previous year. 

The day marks the beginning of the holiday season in the US and this year, it falls on Thursday, 25 November.

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with their friends and families and decorate their houses. Some of the famous Thanksgiving recipes include turkey, pumpkin pie, bread stuffing, potatoes, and cranberries.

The history of Thanksgiving dates back to the first feast that was shared between colonists, later known as Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians in Massachusetts.

Later, in the year 1863, the then President of the US, Abraham Lincoln had announced a national day of ‘Thanksgiving’ to be celebrated on Thursday, 26 November.

Other countries that celebrate Thanksgiving enlist Brazil, Canada, Germany, and Japan. The holiday is celebrated during the second week of October in Canada.