Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is an annual holiday celebrated in much of North America, generally observed as an expression of gratitude, usually to God. The most common view of its origin is that it was to give thanks to God for the bounty of the autumn harvest. In the United States, the holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. In Canada, where the harvest generally ends earlier in the year, the holiday is celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is observed as Columbus Day or protested as Indigenous Peoples Day in the United States.

Popular culture

• As the holiday most associated with family gatherings in the U.S., Thanksgiving is often humorously portrayed in movies and television as an occasion for extended family members to bicker with one another.
• A number of U.S. television programs have featured Thanksgiving Day specials. Friends, a program that aired on Thursday nights, was especially noted for this. From 1989 to 1997, Mystery Science Theater 3000 aired an all-day "Turkey Day Marathon" on Thanksgiving.
• In the U.S., the song "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie is associated with Thanksgiving, as the precipitating events described in the song occurred on Thanksgiving of 1965. "Alice's Restaurant" is played by many radio stations across the country at least once on that day.