Random Thanksgiving Facts

Ben Thompson  

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and everyone is getting ready to indulge in delicious food. Most Americans know the basics about Thanksgiving: pilgrims, Native Americans, turkey, Charlie Brown, and Macy’s. However, there are many more interesting facts about this amazing holiday. I have taken the liberty of surfing the web in search of the most interesting and random facts there are about Thanksgiving.
First on my list is that the author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was responsible for establishing this holiday. Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for almost 20 years to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. She sent letters to five different presidents in hope that they would respond to her request. After years of waiting, she was finally able to convince Abraham Lincoln to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday with the hopes that it would help unify the country after the Civil War.
Second: Americans love turkey. Over the past 20 years, American consumption of turkey has increased dramatically, from roughly 8.3 pounds of turkey per year in 1975 to over 18 pounds of turkey per year in 1995.
Third: the Republic of Turkey does not refer to turkey as “turkey” on their restaurant menus. They instead call it “large bird”.
Fourth: Franklin Roosevelt scheduled Thanksgiving one week earlier in 1939 in order to help the economy. He believed that giving people another week of Christmas shopping would help spur the economy. Many people argued against this and the date was changed back in 1941.
Enjoy your break, enjoy your turkey, and have a good holiday!