In honor of the upcoming holiday, here are some Thanksgiving Fun Facts you can share with family over the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce:
* When the Mayflower left England for America, it was actually headed for the Hudson River near modern-day New York City, which was the northernmost part of the Virginia colony. However, the ship got blown off course and ended up off the coast of Cape Cod.
* The first "Thanksgiving" feast (1621) was not a religious celebration, but a harvest festival. The Pilgrims and Native Americans reportedly ate venison (deer meat), wild turkey, lobster, clams, mussels, sea bass, bluefish, corn, beans and squash.
* George Washington declared the first "Thanksgiving" during his administration but Congress did not declare the day a federal holiday until 1941.
* The first national Thanksgiving Day NFL football broadcast occurred over NBC Radio in 1934. (Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears. Chicago won 19-16.) The first Thanksgiving Day football game shown on TV was in 1956.
* The National Turkey Federation estimates that 46 million turkeys are eaten at Thanksgiving every year. That's 20% of all turkey meat consumed in the U.S. annually.
* Although domestic turkeys cannot fly, wild turkeys can fly up to 55 mph over short distances.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
