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November 27, 2008

Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving Holiday
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=20AA200:A6F02AD83191E160602F5C5EB25BD2E9E55ED32ED25AB8F6&
 
Millions participate in traditional feast with friends and family
centered on turkey or ham, squash, cranberry dressing and pumpkin pie 
US troops eat their Thanksgiving meals at base in Baghdad, Iraq, 27 Nov
2008 Millions of Americans are celebrating the annual Thanksgiving Day
holiday Thursday with a traditional feast with friends and
family. 

Thanksgiving, which is held in the United States on the fourth Thursday
of November, is one of the biggest travel holidays of the year. The
day is centered on a meal usually including turkey or ham, potatoes or
squash, stuffing, cranberry dressing, and pumpkin pie. President George
Bush is spending the holiday at the Camp David presidential retreat
outside of Washington, while his successor, President-elect Barack Obama
is in Chicago. Thanksgiving feast shuttle astronauts will eat in space
consists of green beans and mushrooms, candied yams, cranapple dessert,
cornbread stuffing and smoked turkey Even the astronausts and a
cosmonaut aboard the International Space Station are marking the day.
The U.S. space agency NASA says the crew of the orbiting outpost are
dining today on a special freeze-dried meal of traditional foods. In
addition to the feast, many Americans spend the day watching nationally
televised events such as New York City's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade,
sponsored by Macy's department store, a national dog show, and football
games. Friday after Thanksgiving is seen as the official start to the
holiday-shopping season, with many stores offering big discounts and
opening!
  in the pre-dawn hours for the rush of shoppers. The United States has
officially observed Thanksgiving since 1863, although the first
Thanksgiving is believed to have taken place in 1621.That year, British
colonists at the Plymouth settlement in what is now the northeastern
U.S. state of Massachusetts held a feast with a Native American tribe
the Wampanaog, who taught the colonists how to grow food and hunt for
game in their new home.


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