Thanksgiving Day By: Chanachon“ Nam” Boonphakdee
Thanksgiving Day By: Chanachon“ Nam” Boonphakdee
We all know the history of Thanksgiving: the original pilgrims from England settle down at Massachusetts’ Bay in 1620. After surviving their first winter, which killed half of the original group, they had a good harvest and decided to hold a feast to thank God for their fortunes. However, there may be somethings that surprise you about this historic holiday. Here are 10 facts about Thanksgiving Day:
Fun fact # 1: The first thanksgiving feasts lasted for three days. It also included 50 pilgrims and 70 Native American Indians. However, historians agree that there were only five women present at the feast. This is probably because the pilgrim’ s first winter killed off many of the women.
Fun fact # 2: No turkey was present at the first Thanksgiving feast. So what was on the menu then? Well, deer, venison, duck, oyster, eel, lobster and fish. Mashed potatoes also weren’ t on the menu. And no, turducken wasn’ t a thing back then.
Fun fact # 3: The first Thanksgiving feast was eaten with only knives and spoons.“ What about forks?,” you may ask. Well ……… forks weren’ t introduced to the Americas until ten years afterwards. Even then, it wasn’ t a popular utensil until the 19 th century.
Fun fact # 4: Thanksgiving almost became a fast---not a feast! Yeah you know how Islam has a period of time where followers abstain from consuming food?( i. e. Ramadan) Well, the original idea of the Pilgrims was to thank God by forgoing food as well. That all changed when the Native Indians decided to join them. So with that, thanksgiving became a feast, not a fast( and let’ s all be happy that it did!).
Fun fact # 5: Thanksgiving became a national holiday 200 years after it first started. President Abraham Lincoln was persuaded by Sarah Hale( the same woman who wrote“ Mary had a little lamb”) after she had campaigned for it for 17 years … Talk about dedication.
Fun fact # 6: Every year the President of the United States would pardon one very specific turkey from ending up on a dish. The tradition started in 1947 with President Harry Truman. Most recently, Barack Obama pardoned a turkey named Courage who was then flown to Disneyland and appointed as Grand Marshall for the parade there.
Fun fact # 7: Benjamin Franklin had originally intended for the turkey to be the United States’ official bird instead of the bald eagle. His reason? He considers the turkey to be“ a much more respectable bird” and“ a true original native of America.” While he considered the eagle“ a rank coward,” Franklin believed the turkey to be“ a bird of courage” that“ would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on.”
Fun fact # 8: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin ' s first meal in space after walking on the moon was foil packets with roasted turkey.
Fun fact # 9: Americans eat 46 million turkeys on thanksgiving every year, 22 million on Christmas, and 19 million on Easter.
Fun fact # 10: Turkey meat may be more nutritious than you might think. It has more protein than chicken or beef, it also has very little fat compared to other types of meat. So uhh, this might be a good excuse to buy more turkey meat for your daily consumption.
We hope you have a great Thanksgiving time and spend time with your family. Just remember: be thankful for what you have. Hopefully you’ ve learned something from our ten fun facts about Thanksgiving.
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