My Merry Christmas

The National Day of Thanksgiving is a unique opportunity for Australians to celebrate and give thanks for our God given heritage as a nation and to demonstrate the God given values of honour, respect, thankfulness and gratitude towards our fellow man that have made us the great nation we are.

It is a day for us to pause as a nation and say thank you to God and to each other for those many things we often take for granted but which really make our lives worth living. Let us use this day to be a blessing to those who have been a blessing to us during the past year.:piggyback:

Did you know...

Originally known as Macy's Christmas Parade—to signify the launch of the Christmas shopping season—the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in New York City in 1924. It was launched by Macy's employees and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo. Today, some 3 million people attend the annual parade and another 44 million watch it on television.
Tony Sarg, a children's book illustrator and puppeteer, designed the first giant hot air balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927. He later created the elaborate mechanically animated window displays that grace the façade of the New York store from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
Snoopy has appeared as a giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade more times than any other character in history. As the Flying Ace, Snoopy made his sixth appearance in the 2006 parade.

:thanks:
Also...
The first time the Detroit Lions played football on Thanksgiving...

[B]Thanksgiving Proclamation[/B]

[B]State of New-Hampshire. In Committee of Safety, Exeter, November 1, 1782 : Ordered, that the following proclamation for a general thanksgiving on the twenty-eighth day of November instant, received from the honorable Continental Congress, be forthwith printed ...[/B]
[B]STATE OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
IN COMMITTEE of SAFETY,
EXETER, November 1, 1782.[/B]
[B]ORDERED,
THAT[/B] the following Proclamation for a general THANKSGIVING on the twenty-eighth day of November [instant?], received from the honorable Continental Congress, be forthwith printed, and sent to the several worshipping Assemblies in this State, to whom it is recommended religiously to observe said day, and to abstain from all servile labour thereon.
[B]M. WEARE, President.[/B]
[B]By the United States in Congress assembled.[/B]
[B]PROCLAMATION.[/B]
[IMG]http://www.history.com/minisites/thanksgiving/images/thanksgiving-proclamation.jpg[/IMG]...

[B]Sitting proudly at rest in Baltimore Harbor, the USS Constellation emits an aura of peace of and security. Where once men died under the hail of grapeshot, children now walk. [/B]
During her 175-year history, much blood has flowed over her wooden beams. So what or who, among the countless who have met death on her deck, was the ghostly apparition that was photographed in the forecastle in 1955?
Lt. Cmdr. Allen Ross Brougham, USN, the man who snapped the photo, believes it is a captain returning to inspect his ship.
Hans Holzer, a professional ghost hunter and author, says it could be any one of three spirits "haunting the old ship."
To a Catholic priest who came face to face with the ghost, it is an old salt, unwilling to leave the beloved sea.
Legends of ghosts and other strange occurrences have long been told about the United States Navy's first ship. But the first indication that they were more than the reminiscences of old sea dogs came at...

:witch:Halloween, one of the world's oldest holidays, is still celebrated today in several countries around the globe.
The autumn rite is commemorated in the United Kingdom, although with a surprising and distinctive British twist. In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, All Souls' Day, the third day of the three-day Hallowmas observance, is the most important part of the celebration for many people. In Ireland and Canada, Halloween, which was once a frightening and superstitious time of year, is celebrated much as it is here in the United States, with trick-or-treating, costume parties, and fun for all ages.

[B]El Dia De Los Muertos[/B]

[IMG]http://www.history.com/minisites/halloween/images/day-of-the-dead.jpg[/IMG] Flowers and candles decorate graves for Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos).
[RIGHT][I]Photo Credit: Corbis[/I][/RIGHT]

In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, All Souls' Day, which takes place on November 2, is commemorated with...