2. On December 11, 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock but by autumn (fall) of 1621 only half survived. These survivors decided to have a feast to show they we thankful for still being alive.
3. The Pilgrims had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from England in order to escape religious persecution in England on their ship, the "Mayflower".
4. The Pilgrim Fathers brought beer with them on the Mayflower.
5. The Wampanoag Indians taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.
6. Governor William Bradford, organised the first Thanksgiving feast and invited the Wampanoag Indians to attend; around ninety came along including their chief, Massasoit.
7. The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.
8. The first national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation was issued by President George Washington in 1789 and again in 1795.
9. The State of New York officially made Thanksgiving Day an annual custom in 1817.
10. In 1827, Sarah Josepha Hale started a campaign and,as a result, in 1863 Thanksgiving was observed as a day for national thanksgiving and prayer.
11. On 3rd October 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued a 'Thanksgiving Proclamation' officially setting aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving.
12. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt made Thursday before last of November as Thanksgiving Day in order to make the Christmas shopping season longer and help stimulate the economy, but in 1941, Congress passed an official proclamation declaring that Thanksgiving would be observed annually as a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.
13. Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the USA but Thomas Jefferson disagreed. It is thought Franklin then named the male turkey as 'tom' to spite Jefferson.
14. Californians eat more turkey than people from other states.
15. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began in the 1920s.
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