1) The first Thanksgiving was held in the autumn of 1621 and included 50 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Indians and lasted three days.
2) No turkey on the menu at the first Thanksgiving: Historians say that no turkey was served at the first Thanksgiving! What was on the menu? Deer or venison, ducks, geese, oysters, lobster and fish. They probably ate pumpkins, but no pumpkin pies.
3) Presidential pardon of a turkey: Each year, the president of the U.S pardons a turkey and spares it from being eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. The first turkey pardon ceremony started with President Truman in 1947.
4) This land is my land. There are four places in the United States named Turkey. Louisiana's Turkey Creek is the most populous, with a whopping 435 residents. There's also Turkey, Texas; Turkey, North Carolina; and Turkey Creek, Arizona. Oh, let's not forget the two townships in Pennsylvania: the creatively named Upper Turkeyfoot and Lower Turkeyfoot!
5) Why is Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November? President Abe Lincoln said Thanksgiving would be the fourth Thursday in November.
6) The Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The tradition of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924 in New York City. The parade was originally known as Macy's Christmas Parade to help commence the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.
7) Official holiday. For almost 80 years Thanksgiving was simply a tradition in the United States. It officially became a national holiday in 1941, when the U.S. Congress passed legislation signed by President Franklin Roosevelt.
8) Run turkey run! Wild turkeys can run 20 miles per hour when they are scared, but domesticated turkeys that are bred are heavier and can’t run quite that fast.
9) National bird, why not? Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird, not the eagle.
10) I love turkey …. to eat. About 280 million turkeys are sold yearly for Thanksgiving, which is about 7 billion pounds of turkey & about $3 billion dollars’ worth of sales.
