Thanksgiving History
This year is widely taught as the year of the “First Thanksgiving.”
1621
This popular dish is made of bread, herbs, and seasonings and is sometimes cooked inside the turkey.
Stuffing
This country celebrates Thanksgiving in October.
Canada
This cartoon beagle is known for serving toast, popcorn, and jelly beans at his own Thanksgiving dinner.
Snoopy
This 90s sitcom famously features a “floating” Thanksgiving turkey head on Monica’s head.
Friends
The Pilgrims sailed to America on this ship.
The Mayflower
This naturally orange vegetable is often mashed and topped with marshmallows or pecans.
Sweet potatoes / yams
In this country, the fall harvest festival called “Chuseok” features rice cakes and visiting ancestors’ graves.
South Korea
This founding father and inventor wanted the turkey, not the bald eagle, to be America’s national bird.
Benjamin Franklin
This parade in New York City has balloons and performers every Thanksgiving morning.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
This U.S. president made Thanksgiving a permanent national holiday in 1863.
Abraham Lincoln
This fruit, native to North America, was one of the few truly indigenous foods eaten at the first Thanksgiving.
Cranberry
This U.S. territory celebrates Thanksgiving with a feast called a pabellón criollo, often with plantains.
Puerto Rico
Every year, the U.S. President “pardons” a turkey. The tradition was officially formalized by this president in 1989.
George H. W. Bush
This Disney character is featured in a massive balloon that’s appeared in nearly every Macy’s Parade since 1934.
Mickey Mouse
This Native American interpreter famously helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter.
Squanto (Tisquantum)
This spice blend, often used in pumpkin pie, traditionally includes cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and two other spices.
Cloves and Allspice
In China, this harvest celebration honors the moon and features mooncakes.
Mid-Autumn Festival
The person who leads the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade every year holds this official title.
Grand Marshal
This animated movie features two turkeys traveling back in time to stop the first Thanksgiving.
Free Birds
This group took part in the "First Thanksgiving" with the Pilgrims.
The Wampanoag people
Some Native American tribes made this type of dried food by mixing berries, fat, and meat — sometimes served during fall harvest.
Pemmican
This small Pacific island nation celebrates Thanksgiving due to American influence from World War II, blending it with local cuisine like taro and roast pig.
Norfolk Island
This governor of Plymouth Colony organized the first Thanksgiving feast.
William Bradford
This 1987 film starring Steve Martin and John Candy follows two men trying to get home for Thanksgiving.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles