A Thanksgiving Trivia Roundup

29 Amusing Facts on History, Presidents, Food and Entertainment. How Many Do You Know?

Image by Carrie James from Pixabay

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History

• The Mayflower’s voyage from England to America took 66 days.

• Though the Mayflower initially landed off the coast of Cape Cod, they ultimately settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

• The first Thanksgiving celebration likely occurred in September and lasted three days.

• The Wampanoag Native American tribe celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the pilgrims.

• There were only five women at the first Thanksgiving.

• Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be America’s national bird.

• Eleven other countries also celebrate their own version of Thanksgiving (Canada, Liberia, South India, Ghana, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, the Netherlands, Granada, and China.)

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Presidential

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt officially made Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of every November.

• Thomas Jefferson refused to celebrate Thanksgiving as a national holiday. (He firmly believed in the separation of church and state and thought “giving thanks” embodied religious principles.)

• Harry S. Truman was the first president to receive a ceremonial Thanksgiving turkey.

• Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a permanent national holiday.

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Food

• On average, individual consumption of Thanksgiving dinner translates to 4,500 calories.

• The world’s most expensive Thanksgiving dinner on record cost $150,000 at New York City’s Old Homestead Steakhouse.

• Butterball has had a Turkey Talk-Line for almost 40 years.

• About 50 million pumpkin pies are consumed every Thanksgiving.

• Canned cranberries were first produced in 1912.

• Ham is the most popular alternative to turkey on Thanksgiving.

• The green bean casserole was introduced to the holiday menu in 1955,

• Statistically speaking, stuffing is America’s favorite side dish.

• The turkey's tryptophan doesn't make you tired (but overeating does!)

• Approximately 80 percent of Americans prefer leftovers to the actual dinner.

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Credit: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux

Entertainment

• Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” is performed on many classic rock stations every Thanksgiving.

• Gimbel’s department store hosted the first Thanksgiving Day parade in 1920 (four years before Macy’s held its first.)

• About 3.5 million people attend the Macy’s parade annually.

• About 8,000 people participate in the Macy’s parade each year.

• Only male turkeys make the familiar “gobble, gobble” sound, while females purr and cackle.

• Thanksgiving leftovers led to the invention of the iconic TV dinners.

• The nefarious name of Black Friday was created to deter people from shopping.

• Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the busiest day for plumbers. The day is so busy for these services that Roto-Rooter Plumbing and Water Cleaning company actually calls it "Brown Friday." 😳

(Information was gathered from housebeautiful.com and parade.com)

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