Interesting Thanksgiving Facts

Sharing some interesting Thanksgiving facts is a great way to entertain the kids while they're waiting for the turkey to finish cooking. Even the adults might learn a thing or two from this list.

• The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 by the Pilgrims who had come over on the Mayflower, and the local Wampanoag people. There was a feast and games, and the celebration lasted for three days.
• The day that Thanksgiving is celebrated has changed often over the years. Prior to 1863, the President of the United States would make an annual proclamation of which day Thanksgiving would be held. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln officially proclaimed the last Thursday in November as the official national Day of Thanksgiving. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November, to stimulate the economy by lengthening the holiday shopping season. In 1941, Congress stated that from then on, Thanksgiving would take place on the fourth Thursday in November.
• The first annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in 1924. That first year, it was known as the Macy's Christmas Parade. It was created to launch the holiday shopping season. Today, the parade is attended by an estimated three million people each year. Approximately 44 million people around the country watch the parade on television.
• About 91% of families in the United States eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day. It is estimated that more than 45 million turkeys are cooked each year, and as much as 525 million pounds of turkey are consumed.
• More than 40 million green bean casseroles are consumed each year on Thanksgiving. This traditional Thanksgiving side dish, usually made from green beans, canned mushroom soup and French fried onions, was first created in 1955 by the Campbell Soup company to promote Campbell soup products.
• While it is now a Thanksgiving staple, pumpkin pie was not served at the first Thanksgiving, nor was it invented by the Pilgrims. The first recipe for pumpkin pie wasn't published until 1685, when it appeared in Robert May's The Accomplisht Cook. The first recipe for the pumpkin pie we enjoy today appeared in 1796, in American Cookery by Ameila Simmons.
• Many families make their Thanksgiving pies using Libby's canned pumpkin. The Libby's brand of canned pumpkin is made from a species of pie pumpkin called a Dickinson. Libby's now holds the rights to this species and grows the majority of its pumpkins in Illinois.
• Tofurky, a soy-and-wheat-based vegetarian turkey alternative, was invented by Seth Tibbot in 1995. The product was a huge success, and continues to be a popular choice for vegetarian Thanksgiving celebrations.