On the fourth Thursday of November, every year, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day．The day is a national holiday which is set aside each year as a time to give thanks to God for our blessings (祝福).
Legend has it that the first English colonists () in Massachusetts (马萨诸塞州) started the custom．According to the story, the Pilgrims~ first winter in the New World was difficult．They had arrived too late to grow many crops, and without fresh food, half of the colonists died from disease．The following spring the Indians taught them how to grow corn．In the autumn of 1621, bountiful crops of corn, beans and pumpkins were harvested．The colonists had much to be thankful for, so a feast was planned．They invited their Indian friends to join them in a large feast to share in the bounties (慷慨) of the land．This is the first Thanksgiving.
The traditional foods of the big Thanksgiving Day meal include roast turkey, cranberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and Indian bread puddings.
Since the day is set aside for giving thanks, it has also become a traditional family day．Large dinners with many relatives are common throughout America on this special day.
When was the Thanksgiving Day tradition begun?