Thanksgiving Fun Facts And Trivia: What To Know About Turkey Day

Though it can seem to be overshadowed by the Christmas season, Thanksgiving is still worthy of recognition and celebration. Having originated in the mid-1600s, Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks and celebrate the arrival of the harvest season.

While usually being associated with the harvest feast between the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians in Plymouth, present-day Thanksgiving may look a lot different than the original feast.

As preparations begin for the annual feast of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie, here are 10 facts about Thanksgiving that many at the dinner table may not know about.

1. Thanksgiving was not officially made a holiday until 1863, over 200 years after the Plymouth feast.

2. Items such as cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie were absent from the first Thanksgiving meal since sugar was considered a luxury in the 1600s.

3. TV dinners were invented thanks to Turkey Day.

4. The first Thanksgiving meal included spoons and knives but no forks.

5. President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the third Thursday in November in efforts to boost the economy, but the decision was later reversed in 1941.

6. Forty-five million turkeys are served on Thanksgiving throughout the country.

7. The Detriot Lions will host their 73rd Thanksgiving game in 2017.

8. It has not been proven whether turkey was present at the first Thanksgiving feast.

9. Pardoning the Thanksgiving Turkey was a sporadic tradition at the White House, but was popularized during Ronald Raegan's term in 1981.

10. The heaviest turkey on record weighed 86 pounds.