25 facts about Thanksgiving
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Thank you for visiting my Squidoo on Thanksgiving Facts. I plan to do another in December for Christmas, so be sure to visit The 12 Days of Christmas to learn more!
1) The First Thanksgiving
Although there are a few conflicting stories, the general consensus is that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 or 1622. Pilgrims arrived at the Plymouth Colony and during their first winter, 46 of 102 died. The next year led to a bountiful harvest and the remaining pilgrims decided to celebrate the good harvest and the Wampanoag Indians, who helped them get through the tough winter. Squanto is the most famous of the Wampanoag Indians, and is credited as the man who taught the pilgrims how to hunt, fish and farm the land. 2) The Early Years of Thanksgiving
Early on, the colonies all had their own days to celebrate the holiday. Some celebrated annually while others did not. Some celebrated in late November while others in early December. In 1175, congress declared December 18th as a celebration of thanks for the win at Saratoga. The early presidents felt it was not in their power to declare an official date each year to give thanks. 3) Sarah Josepha Hale and the Creation of a Holiday
A news reporter by the name of Sarah Josepha Hale is famous for her campaign to have Thanksgiving turned into a national holiday in the mid 1800's. Abraham Lincoln was the president who declared that the last Thursday of November should be a national day of thanks. It would take until 1941 for congress to make the date an official holiday. 4) Thanksgiving Travel
AAA states that 38.4 million people traveled 50+ miles from home for the Thanksgiving holiday in 2009, making the holiday on if the biggest travel times of the year. That's at least 1.9 billion miles of travel, not including the ride home! 5) Turkey
Estimates state that 2.7 billion turkeys will be raised this year in the United States. Of these, only 5 states (Missouri, North Carolina, Minnesota, Virginia and California) will produce 2/3 of the birds. Out of the total turkey population, only 46 million will be eaten at Thanksgiving by 88 percent of Americans who eat Turkey on the holiday. 6) Turkey Towns
3 cities in America are named after the Thanksgiving bird: Turkey Creek, Louisianna; Turkey, Texas; and Turkey, North Carolina, with a combine population of less than 1500 people. 7) Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The most famous parade of the year originally was named "The Christmas Parade", celebrating the start of the holiday shopping season and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo when it began in 1924. Today over 3 million people commonly attend the parade and over 40 million watch on TV.
8) The Thanksgiving Classic
The Thanksgiving Classic is a series of 3 NFL games played every Thanksgiving day since the league began in 1920. Each year, the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions play separate games. Since 2006, a third game has been added, being played by any two teams in the league. 9) The Turkey Pardon
Although officially beginning in 1989, presidents hav been pardoning a Thanksgiving turkey periodically over the years. In 1963, president Kennedy decided to not eat the turkey given to him from the National Turkey Federation. In 1947, president Truman is rumored to have pardoned a turkey instead of eating the gift, as well as president Lincoln, though no records can prove it.
Interestingly, since 1989, the pardonded turkeys have always been sent to a Virginia petting zoo in Frying Pan Park.
10) The World's Biggest Pumpkin Pie
According to the Guinness book of world records, and weighing in at 3,699 pounds, the world's biggest pumpkin pie was baked in September of 2010. The pie had a diameter of 20 feet and beat out the previous record of 2,020 pounds set in 2005 by a group of farmers in Ohio. 11) The National Bird
Turkey shopping
12) The Cornucopia
Originally, cornucopias were made of hollowed out goat horns. According to Greek legend, a goat broke one of her horns and offered it to the god Zeus as a sign of reverence. In exchange, Zeus placed the goat's image in the constellation Capricorn. 13) The Turducken
A Turducken is a chicken stuffed inside of a duck which itself is stuffed inside of a turkey and is quickly becoming a Thanksgiving tradition in different areas of the country. Typically, each bird is filled with a different kind of stuffing to fill the gaps between the birds. 14) The Heaviest Turkey
15) The Name of the Turkey
When Christopher Columbus arrived in America, he thought he had reached India, home to a large number of Peacocks. When he spotted turkeys living on the land, he thought they were related and named them "tuka", meaning "peacock" in one of the native languages of India. 16) The Cranberry
The cranberry got it's name from the pink blossoms that grow on the plant. They resembled the head and neck of a crane and the berries were named craneberries.
Love cranberries?
17) The Wishbone
Thousands of years ago, the Etruscans (living on the Italian peninsula), believed all fowl to have fortune telling abilities. One of the ways they expressed their beliefs was to take the collar bone of any passed bird and let it dry in the sun for a number of days. People would come to touch the bone and make a wish. Years later, Romans would continue the tradition, but would fight over the bone and break it to see who's wish will come true. 18) Facts About Pilgrims
The Pilgrims moved to Holland before deciding to leave to find the new world.
"Speedwell", the other ships set to sail to the new world, was deemed unsafe and all passengers were required to travel on the Mayflower instead.
The Mayflower's voyage took 64 days to complete.
The Mayflower is a real flower.
Pilgrims did not wear buckles on their hats.
19) Governor WIlliam Bradford
Governor William Bradford is given credit as the man who helped create what we know today as Thanksgiving. He worked with the local Indian tribes to assist each other in times of war, and helped organize the early thanksgiving celebrations. Bradford served as governor from 1621 until his death in 1657 (except for one year), being re-elected thirty times.
20) Turkey Gobbling
Only the male turkey can gobble, while the female turkey makes a clicking noise. The gobble itself is a kind of mating call. 21) Turkeys And Their Abilities
A quick list of turkey abilities: Turkeys can fly up to 55 MPH. Turkeys have great hearing, but have no ears. Turkeys have a 270 degree field of vision. Turkeys can see in color. Turkeys have a bad sense of smell. Turkeys have up to 3,500 feathers. 22) Reasons To Give Thanks
Many reasons have been used for giving thanks on thanksgiving. Here are just a few :(1541) for Coronado's successful expedition into Texas.
(1777) for the revolutionary war victory in Saratoga.
(1789) for "civil and religious liberty" according to president Washington.
23) Parades
Besides the Macy's parade in New York, there are many others, including:
McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago
America's Hometown Thanksgiving Parade in Plymouth
My Macy's parade in Pittsburgh
IKEA's Thanksgiving Parade in Philadelphia
and the Parade Spectacular in Stamford
24) Thanksgiving Sports
There are tons of sports offerings annually on Thanksgiving weekend besides pro football. Some include:NCAA football's final weekend of regular season games
NCAA Basketball's 76 Classic and Old Spice Classic
Racing's Turkey Night Grand Prix
25) Black Friday And Cyber Monday
According to the National Retail Federation, 60 million Americans are expected to go holiday shopping on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, while another 78 million are considering it. For Cyber Monday, 88% of online retailers plan to provide special offers. Black Friday is named for the accounting term "in the black", when a business is making money. Cyber Monday is named for the higher concentration of online shopping that takes place on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Thanks for visiting!
Thank you for visiting my Squidoo on Thanksgiving Facts. I plan to do another in December for Christmas, so be sure to visit The 12 Days of Christmas to learn more!
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This Thanksgiving Magazine page written by
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My name is Mike and my variety of interests leads me to write Squidoo lenses on almost any topic. I hope you like this one!
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