Thanksgiving Traditions Each year Americans in the United States celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. Most families follow traditions begun on the first Thanksgiving, but many have their own traditions that they follow each year. Here are some of the common traditions associated with Turkey Day. Most years, one of the best things about Thanksgiving is spending time with family. Each year at Thanksgiving, the president of the United States receives a gift of two live turkeys. Traditional foods are a large part of Thanksgiving celebrations. Some families choose to serve vegetarian Thanksgiving dinners instead of a stuffed turkey. Some families include breaking the turkey's wishbone as part of their celebration. Many families watch the New York City Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which includes marching bands, floats, songs and performances from Broadway musicals, and giant helium-filled balloons! Thanksgiving is a great time to help out people who might not be as lucky as you.
18 Animations of Classic Literary Works: From Plato and Shakespeare, to Kafka, Hemingway and Gaiman Yesterday we featured Piotr Dumala's 2000 animation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic novel, Crime and Punishment, and it reminded us of many other literary works that have been wonderfully re-imagined by animators -- many that we've featured here over the years. Rather than leaving these wondrous works buried in the archives, we're bringing them back and putting them all on display. And what better place to start than with a foundational text -- Plato's Republic. We were tempted to show you a claymation version of the seminal philosophical work (watch here), but we decided to go instead with Orson Welles' 1973 narration of The Cave Allegory, which features the surreal artistic work of Dick Oden. Staying with the Greeks for another moment ... Eight years before Piotr Dumala tackled Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Dumala produced a short animated film based on The Diaries of Franz Kafka. Emily Dickinson's poetry is widely celebrated for its beauty and originality. E.B.
A Point Of View: Charity shop blues Are prices at second-hand shops rising? Writer Sarah Dunant thinks so - but is it the recession, the trend for vintage fashion, or a combination of the two? I'm wearing what I like to think is an interesting jacket bought from a charity shop near where I live. Much of what some would call my eccentric wardrobe derives from charity shops. People are divided on second-hand clothes. Personally, I've always loved the idea of something having been owned before me. When the human genome project is finished, I am sure they will find a bargain gene passing through generations. Although nurture will obviously play its part - my mother, born into most humble circumstances, never quite lost her fear of being poor. She would have made a splendid chancellor of the exchequer since early on she saw the folly of an economy built on selling endless credit to people who could never pay it back. She - my mother, not Margaret Thatcher - was a devotee of charity shops. Still, one couldn't complain.
First Thanksgiving On the fourth Thursday of November, people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving, a national holiday honoring the early settlers and Native Americans who came together to have a historic harvest feast. Long before settlers came to the East Coast of the United States, the area was inhabited by many Native American tribes. The area surrounding the site of the first Thanksgiving, now known as southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island, had been the home of the Wampanoag people for over 12,000 years, and had been visited by other European settlers before the arrival of the Mayflower in 1620. The people who comprised the Plymouth Colony were a group of English Protestants called Puritans who wanted to break away from the Church of England. As the Puritans prepared for winter, they gathered anything they could find, including Wampanoag supplies. One day, Samoset, a leader of the Abenaki people, and Tisquantum (better known as Squanto) visited the settlers.
Tour of London | LearnEnglish Teens - British Council Tour guide: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this fantastic tour of London by bus. My name’s Greg and I’m your guide this afternoon on our tour of London. As you can see, we’re on an open-top bus, so you can see all the attractions from your seat and you don’t need to walk anywhere. And please don’t worry about the rain, I’m sure it’ll stop soon. A-a-and please ask any questions at any time.Tourist 1: I have a question.Tour guide: Yes?Tourist 1: Do you have extra umbrellas?
Thanksgiving traditions: Newsround's Top 5 - CBBC Newsround Thanksgiving is an American holiday which takes place every year on the 4th Thursday in November. It's a big celebration and now more people in the UK have started to celebrate the holiday. Here are our top five thanksgiving traditions. 1. Getty Images A volunteer serving Thanksgiving meals to people who struggle to afford to eat. People often want to give to others on thanksgiving, they tend to do things like spending the day volunteering to serve thanksgiving dinner to the homeless. Thanksgiving is seen as a time to be thankful for all the good things in life. Many people attend religious services, say prayers at dinner time and tell others what they are thankful for. 2. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade There are big parades all over the US on thanksgiving day, the most famous one is Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade held New York City every year. The parade has huge floats, large cartoon character balloons and marching bands. 3. American President Barak Obama Pardoning a Turkey 4. 5. Why turkeys?
Listening: A Tour of London Tower Bridge, London (Copyright: Getty) When you visit a city for the first time, a good way to explore it is to go on an organised sightseeing tour. The tour will give you an overview of what there is to see and also provide you with some historical background. A popular way of seeing London is to go in one of the red double deck buses. This tour will take you around London by bus. Activity Check how well you know London. a Madame Tussaud’s is a famous wax museum. b Bond Street is where the detective, Sherlock Holmes, once lived. c Marble Arch is a gate which was built in 1827. d Hyde Park used to be the royal hunting grounds. e Buckingham Palace is the London home of the Queen. f Piccadilly Circus is the largest circus in the world. g Fleet Street once housed the national newspapers. h St Paul’s Cathedral is a small but beautiful church. i The Tower of London is more than 900 years old. j The Globe is the world’s oldest restaurant.