26/11/08

Today is Thanksgiving Day / Acción de Gracias en Los Estados Unidos

History about...


Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, at the end of the harvest season, is an annual American Federal holidayto express thanks for one's material and spiritual possessions. The period from Thanksgiving Day to New Year's Day often is called the holiday season . Most people celebrate by gathering at home with family or friends for a holiday feast. Though the holiday's origins can be traced to harvest festivals that have been celebrated in many cultures since ancient times, the American holiday has religious undertones related to the deliverance of the English settlers by Native Americans after the brutal winter at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The first recorded Thanksgiving ceremony took place on September 8, 1565, when 600 Spanish settlers, under the leadership of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, landed at what is now St. Augustine, Florida, and immediately held a Mass of Thanksgiving for their safe delivery to the New World; there followed a feast and celebration. As the La Florida colony did become part of the United States, this can be classified as the first Thanksgiving.

Since 1947, or possibly earlier, the National Turkey Federation has presented the President of the United States with one live turkey and two dressed turkeys, in a ceremony known as the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation. The live turkey is pardoned and lives out the rest of its days on a peaceful farm. While it is commonly held that this pardoning tradition began with Harry Truman in 1947, the Truman Library has been unable to find any evidence for this. The earliest on record is with George H. W. Bush in 1989.


Foods of the season: Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, other fall vegetables, and pumpkin pie are commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner. All of these primary dishes are actually native to the Americas or were introduced as a new food source to the Europeans when they arrived.

Future Thanksgiving dates 2008–2014
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Thursday, November 27, 2014

Friday after Thanksgiving
The Friday after Thanksgiving, although not a Federal holiday, is often a company holiday for many in the U.S. workforce, except for those in retail. It is also a day off for most schools. The Friday after Thanksgiving, colloquially known as Black Friday, is usually the start of the Christmas shopping season.

(Source Wikipedia)

Questions:
1. When is celebrated Thanksgiving?
2. When did take place the first recorded Thanksgiving?
3. Name three typical food in this Day.
4. What does happen to the turkey which is presented to the President?
5. What is interesting about the Friday after Thanksgiving?

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