The United States observes the Thanksgiving holiday on the 4th Thursday in November.

In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the 2nd Monday in October.  It is celebrated earlier because their harvest comes earlier in the year than it does in the United States.

The first American Thanksgiving was in 1621 by the English Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony, now part of the state of Massachusetts.

The first Thanksgiving was attended by members of the Wampanoag tribe.

The day after Thanksgiving is considered the start to the Christmas shopping season.

Companies such as Macy's began to sponsor parades to attract customers.  By 1934 the Macy's parade was attracting 1 million spectators annually.

In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the day of Thanksgiving to be held one week earlier.  The reason this was done was so that there would be an extra week of shopping for Christmas.  Americans objected and continued to hold Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of the month.  In May of 1941 President Roosevelt signed a bill that established the fourth Thursday of November as a national holiday.

 AAA estimates that 36million people will travel 50 or more miles from home for Thanksgiving. 

	31.1 million (86%) will travel by car
	4.5 million will fly

Each year, 2.5 million people line the parade route and another 44 million people tune in on tv to watch the parade.  49 years ago they only had 1 million viewers!!!

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade route is 2.5 miles long.