The History of Thanksgiving

Before I have to start worrying about diet pills from eating pie for breakfast for the rest of the week, I thought that I should dig up a few more random thanksgiving facts. (On a side note, it's not my fault that pie is so tasty). This is from wikipedia. I'd summarize it, but it's time for me to eat some pie.

On December 4, 1619, a group of 38 English settlers arrived at Berkeley Hundred, comprised of about eight thousand acres (32 km²) on the north bank of the James River near Herring Creek in an area then known as Charles Cittie (sic) about 20 miles upstream from Jamestown, where the first permanent settlement of the Colony of Virginia was established on May 14, 1607.

The group's charter required that the day of arrival be observed yearly as a "day of thanksgiving" to God. On that first day, Captain John Woodleaf held the service of thanksgiving. Here is the section of the Charter of Berkeley Hundred which specifies the thanksgiving service:

"Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty god." [10]

Berkeley Plantation continues to be the site of an annual Thanksgiving event to this day.