By Dale Jones RTT, Registered Thai Therapist
· The famous pilgrim celebration at Plymouth Colony Massachusetts in 1621 is traditionally regarded as the first American Thanksgiving.
· When the Pilgrims arrived in North America, the clothing of the Native Americans was made of animal skins (mainly deer skin).
· Now a Thanksgiving dinner staple, cranberries were actually used by Native Americans to treat arrow wounds and dye clothes.
· Abraham Lincoln was finally convinced to declare Thanksgiving a National Holiday in 1863.
· 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.
· Thanksgiving was not declared a National Holiday by Congress until 1941
· The average American will travel more than 200 miles to visit family and friends for the Thanksgiving Holiday.
· Americans will eat approximately 500 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving Day.
· The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began in the 1920’s. This year over 50 million people will watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV.
· 20 is the number of places in the United States named Plymouth, as in “Plymouth Rock,” legendary location of the first Thanksgiving. Plymouth, Minnesota is the most populous, with 65,894 residents in 2000. Plymouth, Massachusetts had 51,701.
· The average person consumes over 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day
· Wisconsin leads all states in the production of cranberries.
· 91% of all Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day; 50% eat Turkey on Christmas.