Thanksgiving Trivia

After you have gone around the dinner table, and said what you are thankful for (at least that’s the tradition at my house), you can impress everyone with some Thanksgiving / turkey trivia

Did you know:

• Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States.  But it was Thomas Jefferson who opposed him.  It is believed that Franklin then named the male turkey as “tom” to spite Jefferson
• The mature turkey has over 3,500 feathers
• Wild turkeys can run as fast as 20 mph and fly up to 55 mph
• Minnesota is the top turkey producing state in the US
• George H.W. Bush is the first president to pardon the Thanksgiving turkey
• The long loose skin that hangs from a turkey’s neck is called a wattle
• Turkeys can drown if they look up when it is raining
• The average person consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day
• The cranberry is one of 3 fruits native to North America. The others: blueberry and Concord grape
• The largest pumpkin pie ever baked was 2,020 lbs.
• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest turkey on record weighed in at 86 lbs.
• The first time the Detroit Lions played football on Thanksgiving Day was in 1934.  Their opponent was the Chicago Bears
• The day before Thanksgiving is the most profitable day for bar sales in the U.S. New Year’s Eve is a close second

Happy Thanksgiving!