10 Facts About Thanksgiving Day

Annual Thanksgiving Day prayers were dictated by the charter of English settlers upon their safe landing in America in 1619 at Berkeley Hundred in Virginia.

Antecedents for Canadian Thanksgiving Day are sometimes traced to the French settlers who came to New France in the 17th century, who celebrated their successful harvests.

Several days of Thanksgiving were held in early New England history that have been identified as the "First Thanksgiving", including Pilgrim holidays in Plymouth in 1621 and 1623, and a Puritan holiday in Boston in 1631.

Thanksgiving Day proclamations were made mostly by church leaders in New England up until 1682, and then by both state and church leaders until after the American Revolution.

Since 1971, when the American Uniform Monday Holiday Act took effect, the American observance of Columbus Day has coincided with the Canadian observance of Thanksgiving.

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Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the country in large part due to the nation's founding as a colony of the American Colonization Society in 1821 by former slaves and free people of color from the United States.

In commemoration, a non-denominational Thanksgiving Day service is held each year on the morning of the American Thanksgiving Day in the Pieterskerk, a Gothic church in Leiden, noting the hospitality the Pilgrims received in Leiden on their way to the New World.

Traditionally, Thanksgiving Day has been a celebration of the blessings of the year, including the harvest.

On Thanksgiving Day, it is common for Americans to share a family meal, attend church services, and view special sporting events.

Labor Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in Japan.