Encyclopedia Britannica

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my-20 "> <div class="label mb-10"><a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/on-this-day?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB"> November 29, 2024 </a> </div> <div class="cards3up kic-grid-A1"> <div class="kic-title-container"> <h2 class="display-3 font-serif kic-title mb-15"><a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Thanksgiving-Day?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Thankful for the Bounty</a></h2> <div class="font-serif"> Although it is based on a 17th-century event, <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Thanksgiving-Day?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Thanksgiving Day</a> didn’t become a U.S. national holiday until 1863—after a vigorous campaign by magazine editor <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/biography/Sarah-Josepha-Hale?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sarah Josepha Hale</a> galvanized public support. The day is strongly associated with the story of the <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Pilgrim-Fathers?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Pilgrims</a> at <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/place/Plymouth-county-Massachusetts?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Plymouth</a> and their <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Wampanoag?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Wampanoag</a> Native American neighbors, who shared a meal to celebrate the harvest of 1621. But the day has a different tone for <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Native-American?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Native Americans</a>, some of whom view it as a day of mourning. </div> </div> <div class="card-hero"> <div class="card "> <div class="card-media media-VIDEO"> <div data-type="video" class="position-relative w-100"><img loading="eager" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/15/201815-138-224359CE/turkey-dish-meal.jpg?w=727&h=410&c=crop&q=80" alt="Demystified Video on Thanksgiving turkey" class="w-100"> <div class="btn btn-link link-white position-absolute" style="left: 50%; top: 50%; transform: translate3d(-50%, -50%, 0)"><em class="material-icons display-1" data-icon="play_circle_outline"></em> </div> <script type="application/json"> { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/IampksmB.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/15/201815-138-224359CE/turkey-dish-meal.jpg", "tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/eogPAXq8", "label": "English" } ] } </script> </div> </div> <div class="card-body mt-10 p-0"><a class="font-weight-bold h5" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/story/why-do-we-eat-turkey-on-thanksgiving?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB">Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?</a> <div class="credit mt-5" style="word-break: break-word;"> Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="card-2"> <div class="card card-horizontal card-sm-vertical"> <div class="card-media media-IMAGE"><a class="position-relative w-100" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/story/why-is-thanksgiving-in-the-us-celebrated-on-a-thursday?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB"> <img loading="eager" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/03/227503-050-D9D2F6B1/Thanksgiving-at-Plymouth-Jennie-Augusta-Brownscombe.jpg?w=354&h=300&c=crop&q=80" alt="Thanksgiving at Plymouth - oil on canvas by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, 1925; in the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. Depicts Pilgrims and Wampanoag people sharing an autumn feast to celebrate the colonists' first successful harvest in 1621. The First Thanksgiving" class="w-100 "> </a> </div> <div class="card-body mt-10 p-0"><a class="font-weight-bold h5" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/story/why-is-thanksgiving-in-the-us-celebrated-on-a-thursday?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB">Why Is Thanksgiving Celebrated in the U.S. on a Thursday?</a> <div class="credit mt-5" style="word-break: break-word;"> © IanDagnall Computing/Alamy </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="card-3"> <div class="card card-horizontal card-sm-vertical"> <div class="card-media media-IMAGE"><a class="position-relative w-100" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Macys-Thanksgiving-Day-Parade?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB"> <img loading="eager" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/59/128759-050-24E2E5F4/balloon-street-Mr-Potato-Head-New-York.jpg?w=354&h=300&c=crop&q=80" alt="The Mr. Potato Head balloon floats above the street during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City. (holidays)" class="w-100 "> </a> </div> <div class="card-body mt-10 p-0"><a class="font-weight-bold h5" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Macys-Thanksgiving-Day-Parade?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB">A History of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade</a> <div class="credit mt-5" style="word-break: break-word;"> © Sam20140218/Dreamstime.com </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="read-more"> <h3>Discover More</h3> <div class="grid"> <div class="col-sm-50 mb-15 mb-sm-0"><a class="font-16 font-weight-bold" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/video/on-this-day-Thanksgiving/-250878?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" target="_blank">Podcast: The True History of Thanksgiving</a> </div> <div class="col-sm-50 mb-15 mb-sm-0"><a class="font-16 font-weight-bold" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/video/tips-chemistry-dinner/-207560?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" target="_blank">Video: 5 Chemistry Tips for Cooking a Better Thanksgiving Dinner</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="kic-right-rail kic-right-rail-A1 font-14"> <div class="feature-block "> <div class="oyr-title-container"> <h3 class="h2 oyr-title font-serif mb-15"><a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/story/why-is-it-called-black-friday?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Discount Days</a></h3> <p class="font-serif mb-20">The Friday after <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Thanksgiving-Day?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Thanksgiving</a> traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season. It’s a critically important day in the <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/money/retailing?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">retail industry</a> and is routinely the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States in terms of number of shoppers. But how did this day come to be, and what does it have to do with the word <em>black</em>?</p> </div><a class="oyr-link-title font-weight-bold d-block mb-10" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Black-Friday-retail?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB">Origins</a> <p class="font-serif mb-20">In the 1980s and ’90s <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Christmas?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Christmas</a> decorations and promotions began creeping earlier and earlier into the first weeks of November. But two facts drove <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Black-Friday-retail?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Black Friday</a>’s adoption: holiday shopping surged on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and the weeks between that day and Christmas were still when retailers made the bulk of their annual profits. So to drum up excitement, major retailers and the media searched for a way to promote the day after Thanksgiving.</p><a class="oyr-link-title font-weight-bold d-block mb-10" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Black-Friday-retail?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB#ref362582" target="_blank">Big Friday?</a> <p class="font-serif mb-20">The term Big Friday was used early in the 1980s but failed to catch on. The name <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Black-Friday-retail?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Black Friday</a> came next, most likely in reference to the crowds and traffic often found around malls on that day. Some historians trace the phrase to the 1960s, when police officers in <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/place/Philadelphia?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Philadelphia</a> started calling the day after Thanksgiving Black Friday because they had to work overtime to deal with the chaos created by hordes of shoppers. The name stuck, so retailers came up with another interpretation, suggesting that it refers to the day that holiday sales nudge the industry into profitability, that is, “into the black.”</p><a class="oyr-link-title font-weight-bold d-block mb-10" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Cyber-Monday?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB">Cyber Monday</a> <p class="font-serif mb-20">The term <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/Cyber-Monday?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cyber Monday</a> was first coined by the National Retail Federation in 2005 when it noticed that people would continue their holiday shopping online while at work on the Monday after Thanksgiving. This is because, at the time, many people had a faster <a href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/technology/Internet?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Internet</a> connection at work than at home. 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A collection of guns created through 3D printing technology; along with guns that have been modified using 3D printed parts, are seen in the National Firearm Reference Vault, which holds thousands of guns, at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) National Services Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia, September 4, 2024. handgun" class="col-100 rounded-tl-sm rounded-tr-sm"> </a> <div class="card-body pb-5"><a class="font-weight-bold" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/technology/ghost-gun?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB"> Ghost gun</a> <div class="mt-10 font-serif"> <p>These firearms are assembled by the owner, either from separately bought pieces or as part of a kit, and can also be made using 3D printers.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-100 col-sm-50 col-md"> <div class="card ContentfulCard"><a class="card-media" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/War-Stories-13-Modern-Writers-Who-Served-in-War?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/91/226991-004-3719EE77/American-novelist-Kurt-Vonnegut-circa-1965.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="American novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., c. 1965." class="col-100 rounded-tl-sm rounded-tr-sm"> </a> <div class="card-body pb-5"><a class="font-weight-bold" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/topic/War-Stories-13-Modern-Writers-Who-Served-in-War?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB"> 13 modern writers who served in war</a> <div class="mt-10 font-serif"> <p>Numerous writers have recounted or drawn from their war experiences to produce great modern works.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-100 col-sm-50 col-md"> <div class="card ContentfulCard"><a class="card-media" href="https://www-britannica-com.translate.goog/animal/goliath-frog?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/03/264103-004-62E917AC/Golitath-frog-Conraua-goliath-South-Cameroon-Central-Africa-largest-frog.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="A goliath frog (Conraua goliath), South Cameroon, Central Africa. 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