Thanksgiving Fun Facts

Thanksgiving Fun Facts

As we count the days down to another day of thanks with our family and friends, we thought we would share a little history about its origins.  

• Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States. 
• Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada. 
• The first Thanksgiving Day was the fall of 1621. 
• The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land. 
• The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days. 
• President George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in the year 1789 and again in 1795. 
• The state of New York officially made Thanksgiving Day an annual custom in 1817. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began in the 1920's. 
• Californians are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States.