When the first settlers arrived in Jamestown in April 1607 and raised a cross at Cape Henry, claiming the land for England, they may have had a thanksgiving predating their first known observance in 1619. In that year, Berkeley Hundred was settled, one of a number of plantations granted by the Virginia Co. of London to its stockholders.

As many prepare to gather around the table for annual Thanksgiving feasts and celebrations, some might wonder when the tradition started and when it became a national holiday.

While the 1621 feast wasn’t called “Thanksgiving” at the time, it set the stage for a holiday that would become a cornerstone of American culture. The modern version of Thanksgiving was proclaimed a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, during the Civil War, as a time to unite and reflect.

A lot of people like eating turkey on Thanksgiving, but do you know why that is? Here's a history lesson on why turkey has become a Thanksgiving meal staple.

The fowl has long been the centerpiece of the traditional American Thanksgiving meal, but contrary to tradition, turkey may not have been part of the 1621 feast at Plymouth Colony. Descriptions of the three-day feast shared by the Pilgrims and Native Americans from the local Wampanoag tribe include wild fowl,