Then comes Mother's and Father's day - days dedicated to our parents because they really worth it. Thanksgiving day: After the first harvest of the Plymouth colonists, a day of thanksgiving and prayer was proclaimed to be shared by all the colonists and neighboring Indians at a great feast. The thanks were not only for the bountiful food, but also for the help of teaching them how to plant, hunt, fish, nad then cook foods that were strange and unknown to them. It became a national American holiday many years later possibily because of a women named Sarah Hale. She was writing to president of US fo 40 years asking for a holiday of thanksgiving. At last she was succesful with Abraham Lincoln. Nowadays it is celebrated by a traditional dinner which main course is roast turkey.
Christmas: Even though they are traditionaly a religious holiday, people are used to many secular celebrations. Every year on Christmas eve, the American President turns on the lights of the huge Christmas tree situated near the White house. Around the Christmas season churches, various organisations, and newspapers ask for donations of money and food for the needy, and volunteers from the "Salvation Army" dress up like Santa Claus and stand in the street ringing a bell to collect money for the poor. Some welfare groups prepare hot meals and serve them to the homeless. In order to help to parents, a couple of weeks before Christmas you can find "Santa halpers" strategically placed all around shopping malls and stores. They sit in a chair, take kids on their laps and kids tell Santa what they want for Christmas. In the USA Christmas are not a family holiday, families invite friends to join them at dinner and often have give parties at Christmas-time.
Independence Day July 14th. On this day in 1776 the U.S declared her independence from England. It was the beginning of a new nation. On the 4th of July families and friends celebrate and every town and city has parades, games and sports with prizes.Halloween is the most famous custom. Everybody are dressed as ghost and witches. A popular tradition is to cut the shape of a face in a pumpkin, put a light inside it, then put it in the window.
CULTURE AND FAMOUS PEOPLE
Thomas Alva Edison was born in Ohio in 1847. He was not a very good student but was keen on scientific work. The most important invention of Edison is the electric bulb.Walt Disney, American film producer who created the first animated cartoon films. Disney is the author of such cartoon characters as a Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto. He planned and built Disneyland, a famous amusement park, that opened near Los Angeles in 1955. He had created a great number of short animated cartoon films, which brought him success all over the world before he started a project of a long cartoon film based a version of the classic fairy tale billed "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Other films are Pinochio, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and the Lion King. Elvis Prestley popular American rock'n'roll singer who strongly influenced the character of popular culture in the U.S.A. in the 1950s and 1960s. More than 500 million of his records were sold during his life. He starred in 33 movies including the famous "Love Me Tender".
