The 98th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is set to get underway Thursday morning in Manhattan as the nation tunes into the premiere Turkey Day event. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade — two years away from its 100th birthday — this year will feature 17 giant character balloons,

On Nov. 27, 1924, a Thanksgiving tradition was born. Macy’s held its very first Thanksgiving Day Parade. At 9 a.m., a police escort led what was then called the “Macy’s Christmas Parade” through New York.