Folklore of the United States memorialized on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The holiday of Thanksgiving is said to have begun with the Pilgrims in 1621. They had come to America to escape religious persecution, but then nearly starved to death. Some friendly Native Americans (including Squanto) helped the Pilgrims survive through the first winter. The perseverance of the Pilgrims is celebrated during the annual Thanksgiving festival. George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799), the country's first president, is often said to be the father of his country. Apocryphal stories about Washington's childhood include a claim that he skipped a
Spanish Americans in North America after Old Norse, the language of the Viking settlers. It was brought to the territory of what is the contemporary United States of America in 1513 by Juan Ponce de León. In 1565, the Spaniards founded St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest, continuously occupied European settlement in the modern U.S. territory. Like other descendants of European immigrants, Spaniards have adopted English as their primary language, as opposed to immigrants from Latin America and recent immigrants from Spain, who continue to use Spanish as their primary language. "Main articles: Spanish missions in Arizona, California, Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New