Thanksgiving: Day and Traditions (Video)

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Thanksgiving 2023

Thanksgiving at Plymouth In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers—an assortment of religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the “New World.” After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing […]

Thanksgiving: Fact or Fiction

“The reason that we have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving is that it is an invented tradition. It doesn’t originate in any one event. It is based on the New England puritan Thanksgiving, which is a religious Thanksgiving, and the traditional harvest celebrations of England and New England and maybe other ideas like commemorating […]

First Thanksgiving Meal

Thanksgiving Turkey While no records exist of the exact bill of fare, the Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow noted in his journal that the colony’s governor, William Bradford, sent four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the three-day event: “Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we […]

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Wood engraving from Harper's Weekly magazine depicts onfield action during a football match between Yale and Princeton on Thanksgiving Day, November 1879. The match was a draw

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How the First Thanksgiving College Football Game Kicked Off a Holiday Tradition

In 1876, Yale beat Princeton before a sparse crowd. By the mid-1880s, their annual contest was a major social event that attracted thousands of fans in New York.

What’s the Difference Between Puritans and Pilgrims?

Both sought a different religious practice than what the Church of England dictated, but they were otherwise distinct groups of people.

The Miserable Journey Aboard the Mayflower

The Pilgrims’ Miserable Journey Aboard the Mayflower

During their two-month journey to America, the Mayflower’s passengers faced cramped quarters, rough seas, limited food and numbing cold.

Detail of illustration depicting Native American Squanto (a.k.a. Tisquantum), of the Patuxet tribe, serving as guide and interpreter for the Pilgrims at the Plymouth Colony, circa 1621.

Who Was Squanto, and What Was His Role in the First Thanksgiving?

Without Squanto, a.k.a. Tisquantum, to interpret and guide them to food sources, the Plymouth Colony Pilgrims may have never have survived.

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Thanksgiving Turkey

Deep frying turkeys is a southern trend that is now spreading across the United States.

2:38 minTV-G

First Thanksgiving Meal

Find out which traditional recipes weren’t served at the first Thanksgiving celebration

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3:15 minTV-PG

Thanksgiving Day Parade Tech

At the Macy’s Studio in Hoboken, NJ, technicians work year round to construct floats and balloons for the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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2:01 minTV-PG

Thanksgiving Becomes a Holiday

Early Puritans observed Thanksgiving days of prayer, but Sarah Josepha Hale’s crusade for a national day of thanks is what ultimately gave us Thanksgiving.

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