Here are seven interesting facts about our national holiday.  As a history buff, I found these interesting.  Hope you do too.

1. Every year on the island of Alcatraz an “Unthanksgiving Day” has been held since 1975. It commemorates the survival of Native Americans following the arrival and settlement of Europeans in the Americas.
2. The turkeys depicted in Thanksgiving pictures are different from the domestic turkeys most people eat at the holiday. Domestic turkeys often weigh twice as much and are too large to fly.
3. Every Thanksgiving, a group of Native Americans and supporters gather on Cole’s Hill in Plymouth, MA to commemorate a National Day of Mourning. See plaque left.
4. Since Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, Thanksgiving has been annually observed. Various earlier presidents, including George Washington, John Adams and James Madison, all urged Americans to observe various periods of thanks giving.
5. Established in 1924, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ties for second (with America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit) as the oldest Thanksgiving parade. The Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade is the oldest.
6. Not all states were eager to adopt Thanksgiving because some thought the national government was exercising too much power over the states. Also, southern states were hesitant to observe what they considered largely a New England practice.
7. In 2001, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Thanksgiving stamp to honor the tradition of being thankful for the abundance of goods we enjoy in America.

If you’re interested, here is a list of misconceptions or myths about Thanksgiving.  http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/406

Enjoy the holiday now that you know a bit of its history!