Thanksgiving Day, is an annual national holiday in the United States  that celebrates the harvest and other blessings of the past year. 

I decided to dig up a few fun facts about Thanksgiving! Do you know what was served at the first Thanksgiving? How about how many calories are consumed on average on Thanksgiving Day?

• The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 over a three day harvest festival. It included 50 Pilgrims, 90 Wampanoag Indians, and lasted three days. It is believed by historians that only five women were present.

• Turkey wasn’t on the menu at the first Thanksgiving. Venison, duck, goose, oysters, lobster, eel, and fish were likely served, alongside pumpkins and cranberries (but not pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce!).

• Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday on October 3, 1863. Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who wrote “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” convinced Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.

• The average number of calories consumed on Thanksgiving is 4,500.

• The tradition of football on Thanksgiving began in 1876 with a game between Yale and Princeton. The first NFL games were played on Thanksgiving in 1920.

• More than 54 million Americans are expected to travel during the Thanksgiving holiday this year. That’s up 4.8% from last year.