In 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower carried 101 English settlers — we call them the Pilgrims — across the Atlantic Ocean to a new land. They landed in what is now Massachusetts, but the first winter was very hard. Half of them died from cold and hunger.

The next spring, a Native American people called the Wampanoag taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, beans, and squash, and how to fish in the rivers. Thanks to this help, the autumn harvest of 1621 was a great success. The Pilgrims and about 90 Wampanoag people sat down together and shared a three-day feast.

For almost 250 years it was just a local celebration. Then in 1863, during the American Civil War, President Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday — a yearly day to give thanks, no matter how hard the year had been. Today, families across America gather on the fourth Thursday of November to eat turkey, share gratitude, and remember the kindness of strangers.

1620 年，五月花號載著 101 位英國清教徒橫渡大西洋抵達北美。第一個冬天非常嚴酷，半數人因寒冷與飢餓死亡。隔年春天，原住民萬帕諾亞格族（Wampanoag）教他們種玉米、豆子、南瓜、捕魚。秋收豐盛，清教徒與九十位原住民共享三日盛宴。1863 年南北戰爭期間，林肯總統把這天訂為國定節日——無論這一年多艱難，都要心懷感恩。今天，全美家庭在 11 月第四個星期四聚在一起吃火雞、輪流說感謝、紀念當年那份來自陌生人的善意。