When Thanksgiving Day rolls around this year, families all across the world will celebrate by consuming tasty meals and delicious desserts. Thanksgiving is considering one of the most celebrated, family-oriented holidays of the year. But what is the history behind this festive holiday?

In the fall of 1621, the religious separatist Pilgrims held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest, an event many regard as the nation’s first Thanksgiving. It eventually became a national holiday in 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving. Later, President Franklin Roosevelt clarified that Thanksgiving should always be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the month to encourage earlier holiday shopping, never on the occasional fifth Thursday.

Today -- over 114.4 million households across the U.S. will play host to Thanksgiving dinner on the same fourth Thursday in November. Many of those homes will include families who eat traditional foods and some who consume foods that aren't so traditional.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2007:

• Minnesota expects to raise 46 million turkeys and continues to be the top turkey producer in the nation
• Over 690 million pounds of cranberry will be produced
• Nearly 1.7 billion pounds of sweet potatoes will be produced with North Carolina producing more than any other state
• 1.8 billion bushels wheat — the essential ingredient of bread, rolls and pie crust will enter the market
• More than 841,280 tons of snap (green) beans will be produced. Green bean casseroles have long been categorized as a traditional Thanksgiving dish

But Thanksgiving is more than just food. Many African-American families also use the holiday to host small scale family reunions complete with games, movies, and sports. Other traditional activities for some families include attending Thanksgiving parades; watching NFL football games that are traditionally held on the holiday; making wishes with a carefully selected wishbone; and planning Christmas shopping sprees to start the holiday shopping season.

Another important occurence during the Thanksgiving holiday is people helping people. The holiday allows several organizations and individuals to offer free meals to the homeless, the elderly, and those living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses.

Some notable organizations providing free food on Thanksgiving this year include:

• Foods & Friends, Washington, D.C.
• Hosea Williams - Feed the Hungry and Homeless, Atlanta, GA
• The Big Dream Foundation, FeedingNYC.org - New York, NY

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