Cool Things You May Not Know About Thanksgiving

Most of us know that Thanksgiving is a special holiday in the United States. But have we ever stopped to wonder why? This morning as I sit at my desk this curiosity hit me and I did a little research. Here's some pretty interesting things about Thanksgiving:

1. In 1621, the first Thanksgiving was to give thanks and recognize the help the Indians had given to the pilgrims. The food included turkeys, geese, ducks, venison, cod, bass, corn, barley, and corn bread. From what is known from popular Thanksgiving history, there were games, races and demonstrations of skills with bows, arrows, and muskets. This celebration was a one-time event (it wasn’t repeated a year later).
2. The first Thanksgiving lasted for three days.
3. Several people wanted to have an official day of thanksgiving, including George Washington, who proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789. Several people did not want it including President Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson thought the concept of Thanksgiving was "the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard."
4. Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, campaigned to make Thanksgiving a National Holiday in 1827. Her strong and obsessive efforts paid off, and around the end of 1863, President Lincoln, proclaimed a “day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father” – the last Thursday in November.
5. In 1939, President Roosevelt moved the date a week later. He wanted to make a longer Christmas season for the retail industry (there were those who were against the break of tradition; this change was thought to give merchants more time to sell goods before Christmas, and as Roosevelt hoped would help bring the country out of the Depression).
6. In 1941, Congress changed the holiday permanently to the 4th Thursday of November.
7. Turkey is the traditional dish for the Thanksgiving feast. In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations. There is no official reason or declaration for the use of turkey. They just happened to be the most plentiful meat available at the time of the first Thanksgiving in 1621, starting the tradition.
8. Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird.
9. According the Guinness Book of World Records the heaviest turkey ever raised weighed in at 86 pounds – about the size of a German Shepherd.
10. The Pilgrims didn’t serve Pumpkin Pie in 1621 … it is a fairly modern addition to the tradition of Thanksgiving.
11. The Detroit Lions started the traditional Thanksgiving Day Football game in 1934.
12. Last but not least, the average person consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day.

To all, please enjoy Thanksgiving with your loved ones. In spite, of all the difficulty the economic climate has brought in 2009, there are small victories and opportunities to be thankful. Remember, during the harsh winter of 1621, almost half of the original colonists lost their lives. Yet in the Fall, they celebrated survival! That's my thought, what's yours?

Much thanks to the following sites for the above facts: http://www.coolest-holiday-parties.com/thanksgiving-history.html and http://www.thanksgivingnovember.com/thanksgiving-facts.html