The origin of Thanksgiving can be traced back to the beginning of American history. 1620, the famous Mayflower arrived in America with 102 Puritans who could not bear the persecution of English religion. In the winter at the turn of 1620 and 162 1, they encountered unimaginable difficulties and were hungry and cold. After winter passed, only 50 immigrants survived. At this time, the kind Indians brought necessities to the immigrants, and specially sent people to teach them how to hunt, fish and grow corn and pumpkins.

White immigrants have established close friendship with Indians. In June this year, there was a bumper corn harvest in 5438+065438+ 10. Immigrants held a rich Thanksgiving party to entertain Indians with roast turkey and tortillas. Indians brought all kinds of corn products, roast turkey, pumpkin pie, wild grapes and corn syrup, and people sang and danced. After that, every year at the end of 1 1 after corn harvest, white immigrants who settled here will hold a Thanksgiving party, and each family will roast turkey, make corn food and entertain Indians.

On the first Thanksgiving, Indians and immigrants gathered together. They fired a salute at dawn, marched into a room used as a church, expressed their sincere thanks to God, then lit a bonfire and held a grand banquet. On the second and third days, wrestling, running, singing and dancing were held. The first Thanksgiving was a great success. Many of these celebrations have been circulated for more than 300 years and have been preserved to this day.

At first, there was no fixed date for Thanksgiving, which was decided temporarily by the states. It was not until 1863 after the independence of the United States that President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.

To commemorate Thanksgiving, a huge monument to the pioneers of immigration was built on Somerset Street in Plymouth. The ivory ancestor statue is 65,438+00 meters high, covered with shawls and finger domes, and describes the story of the first immigrants to Plymouth and the origin of Thanksgiving on four marble floating women. Today, corn products and turkey are still one of the indispensable foods to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Second, the customs of Thanksgiving around the world:

Americans' Thanksgiving Day: Eating turkey nonstop. Americans celebrate Thanksgiving mainly by reuniting with their families, and then enjoying a big holiday dinner together. Everyone whose family doesn't live in the same city should go home before Thanksgiving. This is very similar to the Spring Festival in China.

Thanksgiving holiday is also the most tense time for American airlines. The flight is almost full, and the flight is often delayed. However, people are probably willing to reunite with their families and celebrate festivals.

For Americans, the most important meal of the year is Thanksgiving dinner. In the United States, a fast-paced and competitive country, the diet on weekdays is extremely simple. But on Thanksgiving night, every family has a big meal, and the richness of goods is staggering. From the president to the common people, turkey and pumpkin pie are essential foods on the holiday table. Therefore, Thanksgiving Day is also called "Turkey Day".

Thanksgiving food is full of traditional characteristics. Turkey is the traditional main course of Thanksgiving. It used to be a wild bird living in North America, but later it was raised in large quantities to become delicious poultry, each of which can weigh 40 to 50 kilograms. Usually, the turkey is stuffed with various seasonings and mixed foods, and then the whole turkey is roasted, and the chicken skin is roasted to dark brown. The owner cuts it into thin slices with a knife and gives it to everyone. Then everyone poured marinade and sprinkled with salt, which was very delicious. In addition, traditional Thanksgiving food also includes sweet potato, corn, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, self-baked bread and various fruits and vegetables.

After Thanksgiving dinner, some families often play some traditional games. On the first Thanksgiving, people had many recreational activities, such as dancing and competitions, some of which have been passed down to this day. There is a game called Cranberry Contest, in which a large bowl filled with cranberries is placed on the ground, and 4- 10 contestants sit together and each person gives out a needle and thread. At the beginning of the game, they threaded the needle first, then strung the cranberries one by one, and it took 3 minutes to arrive; Whoever pulls the longest rope will win the prize. As for the person who dresses the slowest, everyone jokingly gave him the worst prize.

There is also an old corn game. It is said that this is handed down to commemorate the issue of five corn to each immigrant in the case of food shortage. During the game. People hid five corn in the house, and everyone looked for it separately. Five people who found corn took part in the competition, while others watched. At the beginning of the competition, five people quickly peeled corn kernels in a bowl, and whoever peeled them first won the prize. Then people who didn't take part in the competition guessed around the bowl how many corn kernels there were, and the prize with the closest number was a big bag of popcorn.