Happy Thanksgiving Canada!!

Canadians get a lot of grief from Americans when it comes to Thanksgiving. I've heard it said that Canadian Thanksgiving (Columbus Day in the U.S.) is celebrated earlier in the year just to get one up on us. This is silly of course because in reality the first Canadian Thanksgiving was actually celebrated 43 years before any pilgrim set foot in America.

An old European tradition was to celebrate harvest, usually in the month of October. The very first North American Thanksgiving was in Canada when English explorer Martin Frobisher arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for arriving safely in the New World.

Canadian Thanksgiving wasn't made a holiday until 1879 and the actual date that it is celebrated on has moved a few times. There is a geographical reason it's celebrated before the United States holiday. I don't know if you know this but--Canada is farther north than the U.S.--harvest comes earlier. So to all you Americans who make fun of Canadians and vice versa--well you probably still will but now you'll be more informed.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to our incredible Canadian listeners!!