Thanksgiving Day-ta

This week in the U.S. we are celebrating Thanksgiving, a day to give thanks for abundance and all things good. In the spirit of this day, I thought it would be fun to share some U.S. Thanksgiving Day facts. First some history.

• The first Thanksgiving was observed in the U.S. in 1621. It included 50 pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Indians.
• In September 1789 President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a "Day of Publick Thanksgivin." After this the holiday was not observed on any regular basis until late in the 19th century.
• In a proclamation on October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announced that November 26th of the same year would be an official Thanksgiving holiday. He was expressing gratitude for the Union Army's victory at Gettysburg.
• On December 26, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a resolution that recognized the 4th Thursday in November a national holiday.

Now some fun facts.

• Because of a mistake involving 260 tons of frozen turkeys, TV dinners were created in 1953, kickstarting the $1.2 billion frozen dinner market.
• The average number of calories consumed on Thanksgiving is 4,500.
• "Jingle Bells" was originally a Thanksgiving song.
• The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons used to just be let go after the show.
• The Butterball hotline answers 100,000 turkey-related questions every year.

Here's to a thank-filled Thanksgiving!