Culture & Community: Feature Article: Thanksgiving Trivia by Sean Carter

There are some interesting tidbits on this significant holiday of the year—Thanksgiving! Some are fun to note, while others would be a tad helpful to improve your general knowledge. But for one, you’ll thoroughly enjoy the Thanksgiving trivia that follows. So enjoy and share some trivia today!

What comes to your mind when you think of Thanksgiving? The big fat golden-brown turkey? Grandma's pumpkin pie? Or the oh-so-nice cranberries and corn-on-the-cob? Well well, all these ARE a major part of the Thanksgiving holiday. But there's even more to this wonderful occasion of Thanksgiving! The holiday of Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate the beauty and bounty around us, our marvelous friends and family, the gift of their love and many more such good things that we are thankful for ! Celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday in November, the spirit of Thanksgiving Day sets the tone for a grand and joyous season. Now share some interesting trivia associated with the Thanksgiving holiday. Like most trivia, the Thanksgiving trivia is just as much a fun read. Check these out:

• The first Thanksgiving celebration is believed to be held by the Plymouth Pilgrims in the Fall of 1621.


• The credit for making Thanksgiving a national holiday is given to one lady magazine editor called Sarah Josepha Hale.


• The name of the ship in which the Puritans came is known as Mayflower. And the drink they had with them was beer.


• A turkey below sixteen weeks of age is called a fryer.


• Benjamin Franklin fought hard to make the wild turkey the national bird of America instead of the bald eagle, which he found to be a coward.


• A nest of turkey eggs is known as a clutch.


• When a tom turkey (male turkey) gobbles, it can be heard from as far as a mile.


• Now this one's quite a thoughtful trivia-if turkeys gobble everywhere in the world, you won't hear a turkey gobble in Turkey. The Turkish say that turkeys glu glu.


• Firkee is the Native American name for turkeys.


• It's often said that turkeys make a ‘turk turk turk' noise when they are frightened. So they are called ‘turkeys'.


• Turkeys have outstanding visual precision, a great hearing and taste. But are famously poor on smell.


• Another groovy Thanksgiving trivia, also a good piece of general knowledge, is that there's a dance form dedicated to the name of the turkey. It's called the Turkey Trot. This is one dance which consists of short, agile and perky steps.


• A full-grown turkey has about 3500 feathers approximately.


• The US President George Washington proclaimed the first "National Day of Thanksgiving."


• The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted for three days and consisted of both games and grub.


• Governor William Bradford is the man, a leader of the Pilgrims, who invited the neighboring Wampanoag to their feast of the first Thanksgiving.


• This Thanksgiving trivia may just get you lucky. The wishbone of the turkey is the one part which is believed to be a good luck charm on Thanksgiving.