Thanksgiving Day is a very important
day in the United States. There are many things that are especially
related to the celebrations of the Thanksgiving Day. These include
Thanksgiving turkey trivia, pilgrims,
thanksgiving proclamation, thanksgiving as a national holiday and other
things. Some of such facts are mentioned here which will not only help
you enhance your knowledge about Thanksgiving Day but also make you
enjoy this day with even more zeal.
1. 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 Proclamation 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.
  
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