Thanksgiving

Tradition has it that the first Thanksgiving – a celebration of good harvest – took place in 1621, when English Pilgrims at Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts shared a meal with their Native American neighbours. It wasn’t until Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Proclamation – in the midst of the American Civil War – that Thanksgiving was regularly commemorated each year on the last Thursday of November. It is a day marked in the United States of America with food and celebration which includes parades, turkey and American football.

Painting of the first Thanksgiving

General Modern

Think you know everything about the history of Thanksgiving? Here’s 21 facts that will prove you wrong

Shoppers in Liverpool during the 1960s

20th Century

Q&AWhy is the shopping day after Thanksgiving called ‘Black Friday’?

Tudor

A brief history of turkeys, plus why we eat a turkey dinner at Christmas

A 'Thanksgiving Greetings' postcard. (Photo by K.J. Historical/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

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A brief history of Thanksgiving. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A joint Franco-Native Indian raid left 56 residents of Deerfield, a small township in north-western Massachusetts, dead. (Alamy)

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America: Brave new world or accident?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.