With Thanksgiving just a couple of days away, I couldn’t resist digging into a bit of Thanksgiving history and trivia. Here are 10 things you might – or might not – already know about the celebration.

  • In the US, we celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October (the same day we observe Columbus Day in the States).
  • Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.
  • The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days. Doesn’t ours kind of do the same, thanks to all the leftovers?
  • President George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in the year 1789 and again in 1795.
  • The state of New York officially made Thanksgiving Day an annual custom in 1817.
  • Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, started a Thanksgiving campaign in 1827. Her efforts led to Thanksgiving being observed as a day for national thanksgiving and prayer in 1863.
  • Americans consume over 675 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving Day.
  • Californians are the largest consumers of turkey in the United States.
  • The first department store to hold a Thanksgiving Day Parade in the U.S. was Gimbel’s Department Store in Philadelphia, in 1920.
  •  The Macys Parade was begun by employees in 1924 and was originally called the Macys Christmas Parade. It was such a success the company decided to make it an annual event.

 

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:4-5)

 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

 

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