Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil, Germany and the Philippines. It is also observed in the Dutch town of Leiden and the Australian territory of Norfolk Island. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest and of the preceding year. Various similarly named harvest festival holidays occur throughout the world during autumn. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.
A typical Thanksgiving dinner in the United States
Jennie Augusta Brownscombe's 1914 portrait, The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, now on display at Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts
Jennie Augusta Brownscombe's 1925 portrait, Thanksgiving at Plymouth, now on display at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.
Shrine of the first U.S. Thanksgiving held at Berkeley Hundred in Charles City County, Virginia in 1619
Norfolk Island is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, 1,412 kilometres (877 mi) directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about 900 kilometres (560 mi) from Lord Howe Island. Together with the neighbouring Phillip Island and Nepean Island, the three islands collectively form the Territory of Norfolk Island. At the 2021 census, it had 2,188 inhabitants living on a total area of about 35 km2 (14 sq mi). Its capital is Kingston.
The Old Military Barracks in Kingston
Remains of Norfolk Island gaol
Descendants of the mutineers John Adams and Matthew Quintal on Norfolk Island, 1862. From Left to right:John Adams 1827–1897 son of George Adams; John Quintal 1820–1912 son of Arthur Quintal; George Adams 1804–1873 son of John Adams; Arthur Quintal 1795–1873 son of Matthew Quintal
Norfolk Island Act 1913 Proclamation, effective 1 July 1914
