Thanksgiving is held on the final Thursday of November each year.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln indeed wanted the last Thursday in November to be a national day of thanksgiving. However, in 1939 Roosevelt changed it to the 4th Thursday.
One of America’s Founding Fathers thought the turkey should be the national bird of the United States.
In a letter to his daughter sent in 1784, Benjamin Franklin suggested that the wild turkey would be a more appropriate national symbol for the newly independent United States than the bald eagle
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln became the first American president to proclaim a national day of thanksgiving.
George Washington, John Adams and James Madison all did so before him.
Macy’s was the first American department store to sponsor a parade in celebration of Thanksgiving.
The Philadelphia department store Gimbel’s had sponsored a parade in 1920.
Native Americans used cranberries, now a staple of many Thanksgiving dinners, for cooking as well as medicinal purposes.
The movement of the turkey inspired a ballroom dance.
It's called 'The Turkey Trot'!
The first Thanksgiving feast lasted 5 days
It was 3 days.
In the first Thanksgiving the pilgrims wore black and white colors.
Both sexes of the time wore earth tones, with black and white reserved for Sundays and religious occasions.
True, that was the pilgrim garb
False, they wore earth tone colors
The first Thanksgiving celebration was around 1621
Turkey contains an amino acid that makes you sleepy.
It's called Tryptophan and it also creates more serotonin
The side most served with the food was potatoes.
True, it was always the main side
False, the main side was vegetables
The first Thanksgiving took place during late November, like today.
The 1st Thanksgiving happened around harvest time, which would have been between late September and early November.
You Still Have More to Learn
This quiz may have revealed to you some facts you never knew about Thanksgiving, and that is why perhaps the score is low. You can try again or, alternatively, click on 'show mistakes' to see the full answers. In any case, we hope you use some of these anecdotes in your Thanksgiving meal this year.
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