Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the secondMonday of October in Canada. Because of the longstanding traditions of the holiday, the celebration often extends to the weekend that falls closest to the day it is celebrated. Several other places aroundthe world observe similar celebrations. Historically, Thanksgiving had roots in religious and cultural tradition. Today, Thanksgiving is primarily celebrated as a secular holiday.
In Canada
Mainarticle: Thanksgiving (Canada)
"There is no compelling narrative of the origins of the Canadian Thanksgiving day."[4]
Though there were no permanent English settlements in Canada until the earlyeighteenth century, the origin of the first Canadian Thanksgiving is often traced back to 1578 and the explorer Martin Frobisher who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean.Frobisher's Thanksgiving celebration was not for harvest but was in thanks for surviving the long journey from England through the perils of storms and icebergs. On his third and final voyage to the farnorth, Frobisher held a formal ceremony in Frobisher Bay in Baffin Island (present-day Nunavut) to give thanks to God and in a service ministered by the preacher Robert Wolfall they celebratedCommunion.[5]

Oven roasted turkey
The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are also sometimes traced to the French settlers who came to New France with explorer Samuel de Champlain in the early 17th century, whocelebrated their successful harvests. The French settlers in the area typically had feasts at the end of the harvest season and continued throughout the winter season, even sharing their food withthe indigenous peoples of the area.[6]
As settlers arrived in Canada from New England, late autumn Thanksgiving celebrations became common. New immigrants into the country, such as the Irish,...