Did you know…Thanksgiving stuff(ing)
The first national celebration of Thanksgiving was declared in 1777 by the Continental Congress. However, this was not an annual event. Today, our Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November. This was set by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941), who changed it from Abraham Lincoln’s designation as the last Thursday in November (which could occasionally end up being the fifth Thursday and hence too close to Christmas for businesses.)
In 1863, two national holidays of Thanksgiving were established: One celebrated the Union victory at Gettysburg and the other created the Thanksgiving holiday we still celebrate today.
263 million: The preliminary estimate of the number of turkeys raised in the United States in 2004. That’s down 4 percent from 2003. The turkeys produced in 2003 weighed 7.5 billion pounds altogether and were valued at $2.7 billion.
14 pounds: The quantity of turkey consumed by the typical American in 2002 and, if tradition be true, a hearty helping of it was devoured at Thanksgiving time. Per capita turkey consumption is virtually the same as in 1990 (13.8 pounds), but 70 percent higher than in 1980 (8.1 pounds.)
On Nov. 24, the following happened:
- Darwin’s Origin of Species was published (1859)
- The National Rifle Association was incorporated (1871)
- Joseph Farwell Glidden patented barbed wire (1874)
- Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK’s accused assassin, in the garage of Dallas police headquarters (1963)
- D. B. Cooper parachuted from a Northwest Airlines flight with $200,000 (1971)
Just in case you wanted to know……..