Thanksgiving Day parades have largely been canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but balloons and floats are symbolically celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. American Thanksgiving is modeled on a three-day harvest feast shared by Pilgrims, who had landed in the New World in 1620, and the Wampanoag, a tribe of American Indians, in November 1621.  Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce did not seem to be on the menu, but rather deer and seafood.  Turkey became the meal of choice in the mid-1850s, especially after President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863.  It has been celebrated and eaten since then, except when President F.D. Roosevelt changed the date for a short time, on the fourth Thursday of November, a day on which Americans eat more than on any other day of the year. Thanksgiving is therefore linked historically with the original Pilgrims, seeking religious...(Read Full Article)