Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season, bringing millions of families together through hearty appetites and time-honored traditions.

The history of Thanksgiving traces back its origins to the early 1600s. 

It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States as a national holiday. Canada celebrates it on the second Monday of October, which is Columbus Day, another official U.S. holiday. 

The early onset of winter in the Northern regions ends up marking the end of harvest season, and hence the different dates of Thanksgiving holidays in Canada and United States.

The holiday is believed to have originated from a mix of European and Native American traditions.  The Europeans brought their own harvest festival when they moved to the Americas and merged it with the harvest festival of the Native Americans, which happened to be celebrated around the same time.

In Europe, festivals were held before and after the harvests to give thanks for a good harvest. It marked a celebration of all the hard work put in and the successful outcome. And they brought it to this country as a mark of safe travels, peace and rich harvest.

Culturally, this annual holiday marks families getting together over a traditional Thanksgiving dinner featuring the main item: a stuffed turkey. Traditional sides include cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes, corn, fall vegetables, mashed potatoes with country gravy, all complete with a pumpkin pie.

People decorate their houses with cornucopias, horn-shaped containers mostly made of basket reed overflowing with harvest goods, flowers and nuts, marking abundance and the Thanksgiving celebrations.

Thanksgiving Eve is generally one of the busiest nights for restaurants and bars, as students and others return home to reunite with family and friends.

The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, is an exciting holiday for avid shoppers. Most shops have promotions and sales even before Thanksgiving. But the main excitement starts around midnight when shops open, marking the beginning of Christmas shopping.

Black Friday goes as far back as the 1930s. It is an unofficial capitalistic holiday, though many enjoy it as a part of a long weekend. This day is popularly known as Black Friday, as the heavy shopping that day helps put the retailers’ books back into black.