Thanksgiving (United States) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For Thanksgiving observances

in other countries, see Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth by Jennie A. Brownscombe. (1914) Observed by United States Type Date 2010 date 2011 date 2012 date Celebrations National Fourth Thursday in November November 25 November 24 November 22 Giving thanks, spending time with family, feasting, football games, parades

of Scottish descent, and his father descended from Nicholas Frost of Tiverton, Devon, England, who had sailed to New Hampshire in 1634 on the Wolfrana.[citation needed] Frost's father was a teacher and later an editor of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin (which later merged with the San Francisco Examiner), and an unsuccessful candidate for city tax collector. After his death on May 5, 1885, the family moved across the country to Lawrence, Massachusetts, under the patronage of (Robert's grandfather) William Frost, Sr., who was an overseer at a New England mill. Frost graduated from Lawrence High School in 1892.[2] Frost's mother joined the Swedenborgian church and had him baptized in it, but he left it as an adult. Although known for his later association with rural life, Frost grew up in the city, and published his first poem in his high school's magazine. He attended Dartmouth College for two months, long enough to be accepted into the Theta Delta Chi fraternity. Frost returned home to teach and to work at various jobs including helping his mother teach her class of unruly boys, delivering newspapers, and working in a factory as a lightbulb filament changer. He did not enjoy these jobs, feeling his true calling was poetry.

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has officially been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863, when during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.[1] As a federal and popular holiday in the U.S., Thanksgiving is one of the "big six" major holidays of the year. The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive their first brutal winter in New England.[2] The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.[3] The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash.[2][4][5][6] The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "thanksgivings"days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.[7] Robert Frost

International Date Line The International Date Line (IDL) is a generally north-south imaginary line on the surface of the Earth, passing through the middle of the Pacific Ocean, that designates the place where each calendar day begins. It is roughly along 180 longitude, opposite the Prime Meridian, but it is drawn with diversions to pass around some territories and island groups. Crossing the IDL travelling east results in a day or 24 hours being subtracted, so that the traveller repeats the date to the west of the line. Crossing west results in a day being added, that is, the date is the eastern side date plus one calendar day. The line is necessary in order to have a fixed, albeit arbitrary, boundary on the globe where the calendar date advances. Euridice/aurpheuS
(also Erudice or Eurydice) is an opera by Jacopo Peri, with additional music by Giulio Caccini. The libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini is based on books X and XI of Ovid's Metamorphoses[1] which recount the story of the legendary musician Orpheus and his wife Euridice. The opera was first performed in Florence on October 6, 1600. Background and performance history

Signature

Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 January 29, 1963) was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech.[1] His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes. A popular and often-quoted poet, Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime, receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California, to journalist William Prescott Frost, Jr., and Isabelle Moodie.[1] His mother was

Euridice was created for the marriage of King Henry IV of France and Maria de Medici. The composition is typically considered to be the second work of modern opera, and the first such musical drama to survive to the present day. (The first, Dafne, was written by the same authors in 1597.) Since both the libretto and score were dedicated to the new Queen of France, Marie de' Medici, some scholars have recognized a possible parallel between Euridice and Orfeo and the King and Queen of France. While the comparison is readily made, some scholars argue that the traits of King Henry IV are different from Orfeo, especially with respect to Orfeo's most famous deed. Orfeo loved Euridice so much that he journeyed to Hell and back, quite literally, to unite once more with

his beloved wife while King Henry IV wouldn't travel as far as Florence to retrieve Medici.[1] The Opera was first performed in the Palazzo Pitti on 6 October, 1600, with Peri himself singing the title role. Many of the other roles were filled by members of Caccini's entourage, including his daughter Francesca Caccini. Peri composed all of the music for the first production, but owing to the integral involvement of Caccini and his performers, some of Peri's music was finally substituted for that of Caccini. When Caccini discovered that Peri intended to publish the Opera with the added Caccini pieces, he rushed to finish his own version of Euridice using the same libretto, and managed to have his published before Peri's. In his preface, Peri notes that all of the music was completed by the date of the first performance earning his efforts the designation Prima Euridice. In creating the music for Euridice, Peri envisioned a vocal style that is half sung and half spoken. For less dramatic parts he created vocal lines close to the style of spoken language and set over a sustained accompaniment. For impassioned scenes he explored stronger and more rapid melodies with steadily changing harmonies. Peri's critics have observed that within the score of Euridice, he created no musically remarkable examples of either. However, he did use various ranges and widths of register, as well as frequency and power of cadences, to distinguish different characters and dramatic moods.[1] The voice and accompaniment are carefully paced to emphasize the tension and release in the text. Rhythmic and melodic inflections in the vocal lines closely, almost scientifically, imitate dramatic speech. In addition, impassioned exclamations are set with unprepared dissonances and unexpected movements in the bass. All qualitative judgments aside, even his greater detractors admit that with Euridice Peri managed to establish sound principals for operatic composition.[2] The work establishes in opera the dual resource of aria and recitative, and it explores the use of solo, ensemble and choral singing. Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer. "The Iliad" relates a part of the last year of the siege of Troy, while the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the Achaean leaders. Other parts of the war were told in a cycle of epic poems, which has only survived in fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets like Virgil and Ovid. The war originated from a quarrel between the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite, after Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, gave them a golden apple, sometimes known as the Apple of Discord, marked "for the fairest". Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris, who judged that Aphrodite, as the "fairest", should receive the apple. In exchange, Aphrodite made Helen, the most beautiful of all women and wife of Menelaus, fall in love with Paris, who took her to Troy. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and the brother of Helen's husband Menelaus, led an expedition of Achaean troops to Troy and besieged the city for ten years because of Paris' insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of the Trojan Horse. The Achaeans slaughtered the Trojans (except for some of the women and children whom they kept or sold as slaves) and desecrated the temples, thus earning the gods' wrath. Few of the Achaeans returned safely to their homes and many

founded colonies in distant shores. The Romans later traced their origin to Aeneas, one of the Trojans, who was said to have led the surviving Trojans to modern day Italy. The ancient Greeks thought the Trojan War was a historical event that had taken place in the 13th or 12th century BC, and believed that Troy was located in modern day Turkey near the Dardanelles. By modern times both the war and the city were widely believed to be non-historical. In 1870, however, the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated a site in this area which he identified as Troy; this claim is now accepted by most scholars.[1] Whether there is any historical reality behind the Trojan War is an open question. Many scholars believe that there is a historical core to the tale, though this may simply mean that the Homeric stories are a fusion of various tales of sieges and expeditions by Mycenaean Greeks during the Bronze Age. Those who believe that the stories of the Trojan War derive from a specific historical conflict usually date it to the 12th or 11th centuries BC, often preferring the dates given by Eratosthenes, 11941184 BC, which roughly corresponds with archaeological evidence of a catastrophic burning of Troy VIIa.[2] Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I were dealt with in separate treaties.[1] Although the armistice signed on 11 November 1918 ended the actual fighting, it took six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on October 21, 1919, and was printed in The League of Nations Treaty Series. Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial required Germany to accept responsibility for causing the war (along with Austria and Hungary, according to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and the Treaty of Trianon) and, under the terms of articles 231248 (later known as the War Guilt clauses), to disarm, make substantial territorial concessions and pay heavy reparations to certain countries that had formed the Entente powers. The total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion Marks (then $31.4 billion, 6.6 billion) in 1921 which is roughly equivalent to US $442 billion and UK 217 billion in 2011, a sum that many economists at the time, notably John Maynard Keynes, deemed to be excessive and counterproductive and would have taken Germany until 1988 to pay.[2][3] The final payments ended up being made on 4 October 2010,[4] the twentieth anniversary of German reunification, and some ninety-two years after the end of the war for which they were exacted.[5] The Treaty was undermined by subsequent events starting as early as 1932 and was widely flouted by the mid-1930s.[6] The result of these competing and sometimes conflicting goals among the victors was compromise that left none contented: Germany was not pacified or conciliated, nor permanently weakened. This would prove to be a factor leading to later conflicts, notably and directly the Second World War.[7]

country's most significant and well known Islamic architecture, together with 16th-century and later Christian building and garden interventions. The Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the inspiration for many songs and stories. Maldegem Maldegem is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Maldegem, Adegem and Middelburg. Kleit and Donk have always been separate hamlets of Maldegem. On January 1, 2006 Maldegem had a total population of 22,289. The total area is 94.64 km which gives a population density of 236 inhabitants per km . Former inhabitants of Maldegem often refer to 'the ring'. This is some sort of treaty referring to the respect one has for his hometown. The Stoomcentrum Maldegem is located at the former NMBS railway station at Maldegem.

Pagoda MacGregor Arctic Expedition There were originally eleven members of the expedition: Clifford J. MacGregor, meteorologist for the US Weather Bureau; Isaac "Ike" Schlossbach, "second in command", navigator and chief airplane pilot, United States Navy (retired); Roy Fitzsimmons, Polar Geophysicist and magnatologist; Robert Danskin, aircraft supplier and geologist; Gerry Sayre, radio engineer & operator; Murray A. Wiener, photographer; John Johnson, cook and mechanic; Paul "Fuzzy" Furlong, mechanic and dog handler; Francis Lawrence, aerologist and Junior Naval Guard; Robert Inglis, Surveyor and Boy Scout (the youngest member of the crew); and Norman Hortman, pilot (who left en route north at Sydney, Nova Scotia). Alhambra The Alhambra ( /l hmbr /, Spanish: [a lamb a]; Arabic: , Al- amr ' , literally "the red one"), the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra ( , Al-Qalat al- amr , "the red fortress"), is a palace and fortress complex located in the Province of Granada, Spain. It was constructed during the mid 14th century by the Moorish rulers of the Emirate of Granada in AlAndalus, occupying the top of the hill of the Assabica on the southeastern border of the city of Granada. The Alhambra's Moorish palaces were built for the last Muslim Emirs in Spain and its court, of the Nasrid dynasty. After the Reconquista (reconquest) by the Reyes Catlicos ("Catholic Monarchs") in 1492, some portions were used by the Christian rulers. The Palace of Charles V, built by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in 1527, was inserted in the Alhambra within the Nasrid fortifications. After being allowed to fall into disrepair for centuries, the Alhambra was "discovered" in the 19th century by European scholars and travelers, with restorations commencing. It is now one of Spain's major tourist attractions, exhibiting the

Male Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor. Zebra Swallowtail, Eurytides marcellus.

Origin of COMME IL FAUT French, literally, as it should be First Known Use: 1756 dolce far niente noun \ d l-ch - fr-n - en-t \ Definition of DOLCE FAR NIENTE : pleasant relaxation in carefree idleness

Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail,Papilio glaucus, on Butterfly Bush.

K of C abbr Definition of K OF C Knights of Columbus at wt abbr Definition of AT WT atomic weight

Origin of DOLCE FAR NIENTE Italian, literally, sweet doing nothing First Known Use: 1814 beau monde noun \b - mnd, -m d\ plural beau mondes\- mn(d)z\ or beaux mondes\b -m d\ Definition of BEAU MONDE : the world of high society and fashion Origin of BEAU MONDE French, literally, fine world First Known Use: 1673 coup d'tat noun \ k-( )d - t, k-( )d - , -d -\ plural coups d'tat or coups d'etat\- t(z), - t(z)\ Definition of COUP D'TAT : a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; especially : the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group

chop and change If things chop and change, they keep changing, often unexpectedly. Chop up Cut into small pieces
la carte adv or adj \ -l - krt, a-l -\ Definition of LA CARTE : according to a menu or list that prices items separately

See coup d'tat defined for English-language learners See coup d'tat defined for kids
Variants of COUP D'TAT coup d'tat or coup d'etat \ k-( )d - t, k-( )d - , -d -\ Origin of COUP D'TAT French, literally, stroke of state First Known Use: 1646 esprit de corps noun \is- pr -d - kor\ Definition of ESPRIT DE CORPS : the common spirit existing in the members of a group and inspiring enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honor of the group Examples of ESPRIT DE CORPS

See la carte defined for English-language learners See la carte defined for kids
Variants of LA CARTE la carte also a la carte \ -l - krt, a-l -\ Origin of LA CARTE French, by the bill of fare

First Known Use: 1816

comme il faut adj \ k -m (l)- f \ Definition of COMME IL FAUT : conforming to accepted standards : proper

1.

The troops showed great esprit de corps.

Origin of ESPRIT DE CORPS French

First Known Use: 1780

See curfew defined for kids

potter's field noun

auf Wiedersehen interj \auf- v -d r- z (- )n\ Definition of AUF WIEDERSEHEN used to express farewell Origin of AUF WIEDERSEHEN German, literally, on seeing again

Definition of POTTER'S FIELD : a public burial place for paupers, unknown persons, and criminals cologne noun \k - l n\ Definition of COLOGNE 1

First Known Use: 1845

faux pas noun \ f - p, f - \

: a perfumed liquid composed of alcohol and fragrant oils 2

plural faux pas\- p(z), - p(z)\

Definition of FAUX PAS : blunder; especially : a social blunder

: a cream or paste of cologne sometimes formed into a semisolid stick

Polaris noun \p - ler- s, - lr-, - la-r s\ Definition of POLARIS : north star Origin of POLARIS New Latin, from polaris polar

See faux pas defined for English-language learners

Examples of FAUX PAS

1. 2.

Arriving too early would be a serious faux pas. <according to an oft-told story, the queen set a guest at ease about a faux pas by politely imitating it>

First Known Use: 1844

Origin of FAUX PAS French, literally, false step mercury noun \ m r-ky -r , -k( -)r \

First Known Use: 1676

plural mercuries
Definition of MERCURY 1

curfew noun \ k r-( )fy\ Definition of CURFEW 1

a capitalized : a Roman god of commerce, eloquence, travel, cunning, and theft who serves as messenger to the other gods compare hermes b often capitalized archaic : a bearer of messages or news or a conductor of travelers 2

: the sounding of a bell at evening 2 a : a regulation enjoining the withdrawal of usually specified persons (as juveniles or military personnel) from the streets or the closing of business establishments or places of assembly at a stated hour b : a signal to announce the beginning of a curfew c : the hour at which a curfew becomes effective d : the period during which a curfew is in effect See curfew defined for English-language learners [Middle English mercurie, from Medieval Latin mercurius, from Latin, the god] a : a silver-white poisonous heavy metallic element that is liquid at ordinary temperatures and is used especially in batteries, in dental amalgam, and in scientific instruments called also quicksilver see element table b : the column of mercury in a thermometer or barometer; also : temperature <the mercury rose above 70 degrees>
pompadour noun \ pm-p - dor\

Definition of POMPADOUR 1

often not capitalized a : a confusion of sounds or voices b : a scene of noise or confusion

Boston Tea Party

a : a man's style of hairdressing in which the hair is combed into a high mound in front b : a woman's style of hairdressing in which the hair is brushed into a loose full roll around the face 2 : hair dressed in a pompadour
Nobel Prize noun \n - bel-, n - bel-\ Definition of NOBEL PRIZE : any of various annual prizes (as in peace, literature, medicine) established by the will of Alfred Nobel for the encouragement of persons who work for the interests of humanity called also Nobel atlas noun \ at-l s\ Definition of ATLAS 1

Incident on Dec. 16, 1773, in which American patriots dressed as Indians threw 342 chests of tea from three British ships into Boston Harbour. Their leader was Samuel Adams. The action was taken to prevent the payment of a British-imposed tax on tea and to protest the British monopoly of the colonial tea trade authorized by the Tea Act. In retaliation, Parliament passed the punitive Intolerable Acts, which further united the colonies in their opposition to the British.
namby pamby adj \ nam-b - pam-b \ Definition of NAMBY-PAMBY 1

: lacking in character or substance : insipid 2 : weak, indecisive

Worms, Diet of

capitalized : a Titan who for his part in the Titans' revolt against the gods is forced by Zeus to support the heavens on his shoulders 2 capitalized : one who bears a heavy burden 3 a : a bound collection of maps often including illustrations, informative tables, or textual matter b : a bound collection of tables, charts, or plates 4 : the first vertebra of the neck 5 plural usually atlantes \ t- lan-( )t z, at-\ : a male figure used like a caryatid as a supporting column or pilaster called also telamon
Babel noun \ b -b l, ba-\ Definition of BABEL 1

Meeting of the Diet (assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire at Worms, Ger., in 1521, where Martin Luther defended the principles of the Reformation. Luther had already been excommunicated by Pope Leo X, but Emperor Charles V granted him safe conduct to a hearing at the Diet. On April 17, 1521, Luther refused to recant his views. Disorder broke out, the emperor adjourned the proceedings, and Luther was obliged to go into hiding. In May the Diet issued the Edict of Worms, declaring Luther an outlaw and a heretic and banning his writings.
Oe abbr Definition of OE oersted Actium, Battle of

(31 BC) Naval battle off Acarnania, Greece, between Octavian (later Augustus) and Mark Antony. With 500 ships and 70,000 infantry, Antony camped at Actium, between the Ionian Sea and the Ambracian Gulf. Octavian, with 400 ships and 80,000 infantry, cut Antony's line of communication from the north. Desertion by allies and a lack of supplies forced Antony to act. Outmaneuvered on land, he followed Cleopatra's advice to attack Octavian at sea. Antony's larger fleet included his own and Cleopatra's ships. In the heat of battle Cleopatra fled with her galleys, and Antony followed with a few ships. His fleet surrendered immediately, his army a week later. Octavian's victory left him undisputed ruler of the Roman world.

: a city in Shinar where the building of a tower is held in Genesis to have been halted by the confusion of tongues 2