It's that special day to be grateful. Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers!

While the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by early colonists in the 1600s, it did not become an annual celebration until 1863.

That year, in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln called on all Americans to give thanks on the last Thursday of November. I'd like to wish you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Civil War gave us modern Thanksgiving

From the Federalist: “The roots of our Thanksgiving celebration -- like the discipline of thanksgiving itself -- go deeper than happy feelings over food and football. Most of us know the story of the first Thanksgiving, celebrated by that tiny band of Separatists at Plymouth in 1621. However, we may not realize that our modern Thanksgiving celebration originated in our nation’s worst period of turmoil and bloodshed: the Civil War. In that story, there are lessons that can help us today." • Article