Search This Site Enter your search terms Web This Site Submit search form __________________ Buy Jigsaws Buy great jigsaws from PuzzlesUSA and in UK, All Jigsaw Puzzles. __________________ Thanksgiving Facts The first official Thanksgiving Proclamation made by the American colonies who rebelled against the Crown of England was issued by the Continental Congress in 1777. Six national Proclamations of Thanksgiving were issued in the first thirty years after the founding of the United States of America as an independent federation of States. In 1789 Washington, designated a national thanksgiving holiday for the newly ratified Constitution, specifically so that that the people may thank God for affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a Federal holiday as a "prayerful day of Thanksgiving" on the last Thursday in November. Since then every U.S. President has always made an official Thanksgiving Proclamation on behalf of the nation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the date for Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941). Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks at the conclusion of the harvest season. Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October, and the United States celebrates the holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been futilely attempting to find a northern passage to the Orient. He did, however, establish a settlement in Canada. In the year 1578, Frobisher held a formal ceremony in what is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This event is widely considered to be the first Canadian Thanksgiving, and the first official Thanksgiving to occur in North America. Many First Nations cultures offer an official giving of thanks during autumnal gatherings. In Haudenosaunee culture, Thanksgiving is a prayer recited to honor The Three Sisters (i.e., beans, corn, and squash) during the fall harvest. In the United States Thanksgiving is a four day weekend. Thanksgiving meals are traditionally family events where certain kinds of food are served. First and foremost, turkey is the featured item in most Thanksgiving feasts. Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn, turnips, yams and pumpkin pie are commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner. The Plymouth settlers (who came to be called Pilgrims) set apart a holiday immediately after their first harvest in 1621, when they held an autumn celebration of food, feasting, and praising God. Second Monday in October (Canada) Fourth Thursday in November (US) __________________ Accessories Available in UK from All Jigsaw Puzzles. Puzzle Frame from PuzzlesUSA Roll Up Mat for Jigsaw Puzzles up to 1000pc from PuzzlesUSA. Jigrolls in the UK from All Jigsaw Puzzles. __________________