What is Thanksgiving (thanksgiving), what is its origin and why is it celebrated?

(CNN) — In the United States, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in a big way, and the undoubted star of the party — of course, in addition to the spirit of gratitude and remembrance — is the food.

Millions of families in America will be eating turkey this Thursday. Why? See this and other answers here:

1. The Thanksgiving tradition was born

Give thanks for frozen meals. In 1953, an employee of the Swanson Company miscalculated the number of turkeys needed for the holiday by 26 tons. Someone with a business mind came up with a great idea: cut the meat from the leftover turkeys and pack some sides.

2. Do you go shopping?

If you’re a plumber, you can’t go shopping on Black Friday because that’s their busiest day of the year, according to Roto-Router, America’s largest plumbing service. .

After all, someone needs to take care of the system after the well-fed guests “overload the system.”

3. This is my land

There are four places in the United States called Turkey: Turkey Creek in Louisiana, Turkey in Texas, Turkey in North Carolina, and Turkey Creek in Arizona. Also, Pennsylvania has two towns called Upper Turkeyfoot (which is like an upper turkey leg) and Lower Turkeyfoot (lower turkey leg).

4. A legacy

When Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday, it was thanks to the tireless efforts of newspaper editor Josepha Hale, who penned the song “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Joseph Hale

5. How do you say?

The sound a turkey makes is called a squawk.

6. Ben the bird

If Ben Franklin had won, the turkey would have been the national bird of the United States. In a letter to his daughter, the eagle said he had “bad morals.” The turkey, on the other hand, is “a much more revered bird.”

7. Born in America

Thanksgiving is not only celebrated in America; Canadians celebrate it too, but in October.

8. Don’t blame the bird

Many people feel very sleepy after devouring Thanksgiving dinner. But that’s not turkey’s fault, it’s actually low in tryptophan, an amino acid that requires a fair amount of energy to digest. Most people feel sleepy because they eat too much at dinner, and digesting that meal makes them sleepy.

9. Let’s talk about turkeys

Why is turkey called Turkey in English? It has the same name as Turkey in English, and is due to the fact that the birds were imported by Turkish traders.

Editor’s note: The story was originally published in November 2018 and was updated in November 2022.