Colonists shared autumn harvest feast with the
Wampanoag Indians, said feast acknowledged by some as the first Thanksgiving celebration in the colonies. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. In 2011 as we prepare for the 148th American Thanksgiving, thought it might be fun to provide a few facts on the Holiday.
Facts shared From
Thanksgiving Facts and Trivia1. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States.
2. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada.
3. The Plymouth Pilgrims were the first to celebrate the Thanksgiving.
4. The pilgrims arrived in North America in December 1620.
5. The Pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to reach North America.
6. The pilgrims sailed on the ship, which was known by the name of 'Mayflower'.
7. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day in the fall of 1621.
8. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
9. The drink that the Puritans brought with them in the Mayflower was the beer.
10. The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.
11. The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in the year 1621 and invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians also to the feast.
12. The first Thanksgiving feast was held in the presence of around ninety Wampanoag Indians and the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, was also invited there.
13. The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.
14. President George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving Day Proclaimation
in the year 1789 and again in 1795.
15. The state of New York officially made Thanksgiving Day an annual custom in 1817.
16. Sarah Josepha Hale, an editor with a magazine, started a Thanksgiving campaign in 1827 and it was result of her efforts that in 1863 Thanksgiving was observed as a day for national thanksgiving and prayer.
17. Abraham Lincoln issued a '
Thanksgiving Proclamation' on third October 1863 and officially set aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving. Whereas earlier the presidents used to make an annual proclamation to specify the day when Thanksgiving was to be held.
18. President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored Thursday before last of November as Thanksgiving Day in the year 1939. He did so to make the Christmas shopping season longer and thus stimulate the economy of the state.
19. Congress passed an official proclamation in 1941 and declared that now onwards Thanksgiving will be observed as a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November every year.
20. Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States. But it was Thomas Jefferson who opposed him. It is believed that Franklin then named the male turkey as 'tom' to spite Jefferson.
21. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began in the 1920's.
22. Californians are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States.
23. When the Pilgrims arrived in North America, the clothing of the Native Americans was made of animal skins (mainly deer skin).
24. On December 11, 1620 the first Pilgrims (or Puritans, as they were initially known) landed at Plymouth Rock.
25. By the fall of 1621 only half of the pilgrims, who had sailed on the Mayflower, survived. The survivors, thankful to be alive, decided to give a thanksgiving feast.
