Thanksgiving History Facts That You May Not Know

To have your best Turkey Day ever, you should know these Thanksgiving history facts!

Thanksgiving is a United States’ national holiday, observed on the fourth Thursday in November. Thanksgiving is all about Turkey, sweet potato, pumpkin pie, and leftover food. Thanksgiving holiday is filled with a family gathering, eating delicious feasts, and watching football. How much do you know about Thanksgiving? Here’s what you need to learn about the history of Thanksgiving before you celebrate with your family and express how thankful you are. 

If you are looking for interesting things to do on Thanksgiving, you can play our latest Thanksgiving trivia questions to impress your friends and family.

Fun Facts About Thanksgiving

What do you know about thanksgiving? You may believe you are well-versed about Thanksgiving. Let’s see how many of these facts are new to you. These amazing Thanksgiving facts will leave you stuffed with knowledge. 

• Why did Thanksgiving happen? The Thanksgiving holiday can be traced back to the 17th century. The first Thanksgiving took place for three days( sometime between late September and mid-November ) in 1671 in Plymouth.
• Today, turkey is the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving feast table. Earlier, Colonists and Native Americans did not have turkey at their feast back in 1621. Their dinner included lobster, venison, goose, swan, fish, and seal.
• Thomas Jefferson declined to announce Thanksgiving as a holiday. Traditionally, presidents are supposed to announce Thanksgiving as a holiday every year.
• Thanksgiving was celebrated on the third Thursday in November 1939.
• Earlier, Thanksgiving was not a national holiday. Abraham Lincoln was credited for proclaiming Thanksgiving a national holiday on October 3, 1863.
• Sarah Josepha Hale, also known for writing a children’s poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” is credited for Thanksgiving’s recognition as a national holiday. She was even called Mother of Thanksgiving. She wrote a letter to President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward in 1863 requesting to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.
• There are four towns in the US known as Turkey.
• It is estimated that the average number of calories consumed by America on Thanksgiving is 4500.
• Over 50 million Americans traveled during the Thanksgiving holiday last year.
• It is estimated that 46 million turkeys are cooked for Thanksgiving dinner every year.
• Harry Truman was recognized as the first US president to pardon a turkey.
• Turkey’s pardoning was not an official practice until 1989. John F.Kennedy was the first president to implement the Turkey pardoning followed by Richard Nixon, who sent his turkey to a petting zoo. Then George H.W. Bush was the first US president to formalize the turkey pardoning in 1989.
• The tradition of watching football on Thanksgiving started in 1876.
• The inaugural Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was originally intended to celebrate Christmas. The parade took place in 1924 and more than 250,000 people participated. Hence, it was adopted as a New York tradition and became a nationally televised event.
• Football has been played since 1876 on every Thanksgiving. 
• In 1920, the first professional football game took place on Thanksgiving.
• The TV dinner was practiced because of Thanksgiving.
• “Jingle Bells” was originally meant to be a Thanksgiving song. In 1857, it was written by James Pierpoint, the original name of the song was “One Horse Open Sleigh.”
• Surprisingly, several people enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers more than the Thanksgiving feast.
• The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is called “Drinksgiving.”
• Following Thanksgiving, Black Friday is considered the busiest day of the year for plumbers.