Turkey Day Trivia

Interesting facts about Thanksgiving that each of us should know about:

• The first Thanksgiving celebration can be traced back to the Plymouth Pilgrims in the fall of 1621.
• The first Thanksgiving feast was held to thank the Lord for sparing the lives of the survivors of the Mayflower, who landed at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. The survivors included four adult women and almost forty percent children.
• The Wampanoag chief Massasoit and ninety of his tribesmen were also invited to the first thanksgiving feast. Governor William Bradford invited them for helping the Pilgrims surviving and teaching them the skills of cultivating the land.
• The celebration in 1621 lasted for three days and included games and food.
• The president to proclaim the first 'National Day of Thanksgiving' in 1789 was George Washington.
• Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, campaigned to make Thanksgiving a National Holiday in 1827 and succeeded.
• Abraham Lincoln announced Thanksgiving to be national holiday in his proclamation on October 3, 1863.
• The 'wishbone' of the turkey is used in a good luck ritual on Thanksgiving Day.
• Puritans of Mayflower used to drink Beer.