Thanksgiving is a day filled with family, friends, and food, but according to Knoxweb, there may be some things that you don’t know about Thanksgiving, affectionately known as, “Turkey Day.”

When Swanson overestimated the amount of turkeys that people in America would enjoy in 1953 there were 250 tons of frozen poultry that the company needed to get rid of, but thanks to the ingenious mind of salesman Gerry Thomas, the humble TV dinner was born with the inventive Mr. Thomas ordering 5,000 aluminum trays. An assembly line was created with a line of people with ice-cream scoops and spatulas creating a mini feast of turkey, peas, corn-bread dressing, and sweet potatoes. Thomas admitted that he first got the idea from airplane food packages.

Magazine editor, Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who was responsible for writing, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” had an important role as far as Thanksgiving was concerned. After 17 years of writing letters to President Lincoln, she was able to convince him to issue a decree in 1863 that recognized the historic tradition of Thanksgiving.

South Carolina, Wyoming, and Louisiana claim to have come up with a Turducken, the now famous Thanksgiving bird that consists of stuffing a turkey with a duck that is stuffed with a chicken, commonly referred to as a Russian nesting doll for poultry. Although no one knows for sure, a Louisiana store claims that it ships over 5,000 Turduckens every year seven days prior to Thanksgiving. To some this may seem crazy, especially since the original meal featured lobster, eel, oysters, fish, and wild turkey. Today, several variations to the meal include tofurkey, a tofu version and of course, deep-fried turkey.

Every year the White House pardons a lucky foul before Thanksgiving, but where did the pardoning actually come from? Some say it began in 1947 when then President Harry Truman took pity on a very lucky turkey, other Historians claim that it began in the mid-1860’s when President Abraham Lincoln granted an official pardon to his son Tad’s pet turkey. It may alleviate some of the guilt, but it doesn’t stop Americans from consuming more than 46 million turkeys for the annual holiday.

Although today Thanksgiving is a feast, that was not the original plan. Plymouth Rock settlers initially meant the holiday to be a fast recognizing the, “Giving of thanks,” in the form of abstaining from food and prayer. However, the Wampangoag Native American tribe, who joined the settlers for the three day Thanksgiving celebration, contributed other harvest traditions that included feasting, games and dancing.

While the very first Thanksgiving was originally held in 1621, it would take another 150 years before all 13 of the American colonies would celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time in October of 1777. In 1789, George Washington haled the new holiday, while President Thomas Jefferson thought it was a ridiculous idea. Because Benjamin Franklin had an affinity for foul, especially turkey, he actually lobbied to make the turkey the national bird, obviously, that didn’t happen.

There are three towns in the United States that are named after the Thanksgiving bird. Turkey, North Carolina, Turkey Creek, Louisiana, and Turkey Texas. Interestingly enough each town has a population of less than 500 people.

This Thanksgiving Knoxweb would like you to take a moment to appreciate your family and friends and enjoy a safe, joyous and Happy Thanksgiving!