Food
The most popular main dish served on Thanksgiving
What is turkey?
46 million turkeys are consumed every year at Thanksgiving
The English separatists who came to North America in 1620
Who were the Pilgrims?
The Pilgrims referred to themselves as "Separatists" and not "Pilgrims".
The name of the US President who first ordered a national day of Thanksgiving
Who was George Washington?
Prior to 1941, Thanksgiving was not a fixed date on the calendar but whenever the President proclaimed it to be. President Washington was the first to issue a proclamation for the holiday in 1789.
The loose red skin attached to the underside of a turkey’s beak
What is a wattle?
This department store's beloved Thanksgiving Day parade has been floating through New York City since 1924
What is Macy's?
But Gimbels department store hosted a Thanksgiving Day parade in Philadelphia in 1920, four years before Macy’s held their first.
3.5 million people attend the attend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York each year. And 300 pounds of glitter are sprinkled on Macy's Thanksgiving Parade floats and costumes each year!
The conical-shaped basket that is generally filled with fruits and vegetables
What is a cornucopia?
The name of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth, Massachusetts
What is the Mayflower?
There were 102 passengers on the Mayflower.
The US President who refused to declare Thanksgiving as a national holiday
Who was Thomas Jefferson?
As president, he refused to endorse the tradition in 1801; as governor of Virginia in 1779, he had declared a day of Thanksgiving. He considered days of thanksgiving the responsibility of the states, not the federal government. He also believed that federal endorsement would conflict with the First Amendment; such was the background of his statement of “a wall of separation between Church and State.” For Jefferson, supporting the holiday meant supporting state-sponsored religion since Thanksgiving is rooted in Puritan religious traditions.
The Founding Father who wanted the wild turkey, referred to as "a bird of courage", to be the symbol of the United States of America
Who was Benjamin Franklin?
The year "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" debuted on television
What is 1973?
The state that produces the most cranberries
What is Wisconsin?
Originally dubbed the "craneberry," Pilgrims likened the pink blossoms that appear on cranberries to the heads of Sandhill Cranes.
The indigenous people of North America who helped the Pilgrims
Who were the Native Americans or the Wampanoag tribe?
Squanto was especially helpful to the Pilgrims as he spoke English.
In 1863 this president declared a national annual day of Thanksgiving to be held in November
Who was Abraham Lincoln?
Between 1846-1863, Sarah Hale had petitioned Congress and five different presidents (Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln) to create a national annual holiday for Thanksgiving. She finally had success in 1863 when President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday on the last Thursday in November. Lincoln’s proclamation urged the nation to heal its wounds and restore “peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”
The speed that turkeys can run when scared
What is 20 MPH?
One of the two NFL teams that traditionally hold games on Thanksgiving Day since 1966?
Who are the Detroit Lions or the Dallas Cowboys?
The number of calories consumed on average per person at Thanksgiving dinner
What is 4,500?
The governor of the Plymouth Colony who first invited the Indians to a 3-day Thanksgiving feast in 1621
Who was Governor William Bradford?
This president asked Congress to move Thanksgiving from the last Thursday to the 4th Thursday in November to extend holiday shopping season
Who was Franklin Roosevelt?
In 1933, FDR's first Thanksgiving in office, Thanksgiving fell on the 5th Thursday leaving only 20 shopping days left before Christmas. Business leaders urged FDR to move the holiday up a week.
In 1939, still recovering from the Great Depression, did move the date up a week to November 23, but the change proved to be controversial. New England even considered seceding from the union!
For two more years, FDR observed Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November, but the level of public outrage led Congress to pass a law in 1941, making the fourth Thursday in November a legal holiday, ensuring that all Americans would celebrate a unified Thanksgiving.
The average life span of a wild turkey
How long is three or four years?
The average life span of a domestic turkey, from birth to freezer, is 26 weeks.
The president who received a raccoon as a Thanksgiving gift
Who was President Calvin Coolidge?
He received a live raccoon for Thanksgiving in 1926. It was intended to be dinner, but the president's family ended up keeping the raccoon as a pet. They named it Rebecca.
The type of meat the Native Americans brought to the first Thanksgiving
What is Venison (deer meat)?
Seafood, goose, and duck was also served.
The number of Pilgrims that were at the first Thanksgiving
What is approximately 53?
Just over 50 colonists are believed to have attended, including 22 men, four women, and more than 25 children and teenagers. These were the lucky ones who had made it through a rough entry into the New World. 78 percent of the women who had arrived on the Mayflower had died during the first winter.
The first president to officially pardon a turkey
Who was John F Kennedy?
JFK was the first to officially pardon a turkey in 1963 stating, “We’ll just let this one grow.”
In 1989 George H.W. Bush "presented a Presidential pardon" to a "fine tom turkey" and made it an annual event.
However, in 1863 Lincoln's son Tad asked his father to spare the turkey’s life since Tad had adopted the turkey as a pet. Although Lincoln did spare this turkey’s life for Thanksgiving dinner, the turkey was planned for Christmas dinner instead.
This product owes its existence to Thanksgiving Turkeys
What is a T.V. Dinner?
In 1953, Swanson misjudged the number of frozen turkeys it would sell that year by 26 tons. They decided to slice up the meat and repackage it with some trimmings on the side creating the first TV dinner!
This Christmas song was originally written for Thanksgiving
What is Jingle Bells?