Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is a
time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in
general. It is a holiday celebrated primarily in Canada and the
United States. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving
is now primarily identified as a secular holiday. The date and
location of the first Thanksgiving celebration is a topic of
modest contention. Though the earliest attested Thanksgiving
celebration was on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint
Augustine, Florida, the traditional "first Thanksgiving" is
venerated as having occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation,
in 1621. The Plymouth celebration occurred early in the history
in one of the original thirteen colonies that became the United
States, and this celebration became an important part of the
American myth by the 1800s. Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on
the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth
Thursday of November in the United States. Thanksgiving dinner
is held on this day, usually as