10 Gratifying Facts about Thanksgiving

Impress your friends and family with these top 10 Thanksgiving facts, including how much turkey we really eat and common Thanksgiving myths. 1. President Jefferson called a federal Thanksgiving proclamation “the most ridiculous idea ever conceived.” 2. Black Friday is the busiest day for Roto-Rooter, a major plumbing service. They are called in to clean up “overwhelmed” sewer systems from Thanksgiving celebrations. 3. Americans eat roughly 535 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving. 4. “Jingle Bells” was originally written as a Thanksgiving song. 5. In 1953, the Swanson company overestimated the number frozen turkeys that it would sell on Thanksgiving by 26 tons. The company decided to slice up the extra meat and repackage it, creating the first TV dinner. 6. Held every year on the island of Alcatraz since 1975, “Unthanksgiving Day” commemorates the survival of Native Americans following the arrival and settl