in 1621. However, their first true thanksgiving was in 1623, when they gave thanks for rain that ended a drought. These early thanksgivings took the form of a special church service, rather than a feast, as is common now.the second half of the 1600s, thanksgivings after the harvest became more common and started to become annual events. However, it was celebrated on different days in different communities and in some places there were more than one thanksgiving each year. The celebrations often included prayer and fasting and so were quite different to the modern holiday. George Washington, the first president of the United States, proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1789.1863, Thanksgiving Day has been an annual holiday in the United States. A more recent tradition started in 1947. Since then, the president has been presented with a live turkey, which he 'pardons'. The turkey then spends the rest of its life peacefully on a farm.everyone sees Thanksgiving Day as a cause for celebration. The European settlers had a massive destructive effect on the Native American peoples and their culture. Each year since 1970, a group of Native Americans and their supporters have staged a protest for a National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving Day. [12, p. 75]
.6 Presidents Day
's Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February. It is also commonly known as Presidents Day (sometimes spelled Presidents 'Day or President's Day). As Washington's Birthday or Presidents Day, it is also the official name of a concurrent state holiday celebrated on the same day in a number of states.Washington 's Birthday, a federal holiday honoring George Washington was originally implemented by an Act of Congress in 1880 for government offices in the District of Columbia and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices.Massachusetts, the state officially celebrates "Washington's Birthday" on the same day as the Federal holiday state law also directs the governor to issue an annual "Presidents Day" proclamation on May 29 honoring the presidents with Massachusetts roots: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge, and John F. Kennedy.uniquely observes the day as "Washington and Jefferson Day", even though Thomas Jefferson's birthday is in April.Connecticut, Missouri and Illinois, while Washington's Birthday is a federal holiday, Abraham Lincoln's birthday is still a state holiday, falling on February 12 regardless of the day of the week.Washington 's home state of Virginia, the holiday is legally known as "George Washington Day.", the February holiday has become well-known for being a day in which many stores, especially car dealers , hold sales. Until the late 1980s, corporate businesses generally closed on this day, similar to p...
