How to celebrate Thanksgiving safely this year, according to health experts
Turkey day isn't cancelled, but with all the efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, expect it to be different.One of the busiest travel holidays of the year, the long Thanksgiving weekend is one that many people traditionally head home for, but this year the experts say it's best to avoid travel, if possible, to lower the risk for getting and transmitting the virus. "Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others," noted the CDC.
Thanksgiving holidays used to happen throughout the year, but Americans showed a preference early on for one particular day of the week. For Americans, the timing of the Thanksgiving holiday — the fourth Thursday in November — can be a blessing or a curse.
The Real Reason Thanksgiving Is Celebrated on the Fourth Thursday of November Here's why you eat turkey on the fourth Thursday of the month. While Abraham Lincoln gave Thanksgiving a semi-defined date when he declared the last
Christmas falls on Dec. 25, Valentine's Day is celebrated Feb. 14, Halloween is always Oct. 31—and yet, somehow, the date we celebrate Thanksgiving moves around each and every year. It's strange, not to mention inconvenient. But have you ever wondered why Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November? Thankfully, we have an explanation. Read on to find out the history, and for more fun facts about this beloved holiday, find out The Most Hated Thanksgiving Dish, According to a New Survey.
© Provided by Best Life Thanksgiving Dinner As it turns out, this piece of Thanksgiving history dates all the way back to Franklin D. Roosevelt. While Abraham Lincoln gave the holiday a semi-defined date when he declared the last Thursday in November to be the official date of Thanksgiving observation during his 1863 proclamation, things became complicated when, in both 1933 and 1939, November ended up having not four weeks, but five.
How to Plan Your Thanksgiving Within the Latest COVID-19 Guidelines
"You want to take a couple of steps back and say, 'Is it worth it for this year?'"Thanksgiving is less than a month away, and experts are warning about safety issues related to the holiday. Small gatherings are already driving outbreaks across the country, Anthony Fauci, M.D., the country’s top infectious disease expert, warned in a new interview, and Thanksgiving dinner could lead to even more spread of the virus.
It began as a day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United
Thanksgiving Day is observed each year in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November . In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two
What could possibly be the problem with moving Thanksgiving back a week every few years? Well, as the Library of Congress explains, business owners feared that the further Thanksgiving was pushed, the less time (and therefore money) people would spend doing their Christmas shopping.
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In a letter addressed to FDR postmarked Oct. 2, 1933, the Downtown Association of Los Angeles expressed these concerns. "Thanksgiving, this year, according to the usual custom, would fall upon November 30th, the last Thursday in November, which would leave but twenty shopping days before Christmas," they noted. "It is an established fact that Christmas buying begins vigorously every year in the retail stores the day following Thanksgiving and that the Thanksgiving to Christmas period is the busiest retail period of the whole year."
The Perfect Thanksgiving Mac and Cheese, From the Chef Who Was Most Ambivalent About It
For decades, Erick Williams could give or take mac and cheese. But opening his restaurant, Virtue, forced him give the dish another chance. The result? A mac-and-cheese that's good enough for the holidays.“For years I used to do homeless feeds on Thanksgiving, so that I could get out of the cooking at home, which is a much heavier lift,” he explains. “Home stoves are weird, there’s not enough space in a lot of home kitchens, it’s an all-day event.” But when cooking for people experiencing homelessness, he says, “I can get up early in the morning. I can put out a lot of food that’s delicious. It’s super rewarding. And then I could be home at 11, and then sit and eat cereal.
In short, there’s no reason Thanksgiving is held on the fourth Thursday of November other than to tell shoppers that it ’s time to buy Christmas gifts. Before you start thinking about Christmas, you need to make sure you’re ready for turkey day. Here are Thanksgiving shopping tips, strategies and
Thanksgiving has been held on a Thursday in November since George Washington’s presidency, but the week of the month evolved throughout history. So why do we observe Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November ? Thanksgiving 2020:CDC recommends that Americans don't travel
It appears that Roosevelt took the concerns of his constituents seriously. In 1939, the president issued a proclamation moving the holiday to the second-to-last Thursday in November. Several states refused to acknowledge this change, though, and so in 1941, the Senate moved to officially establish the holiday on the fourth Thursday of the month. Obviously this doesn't solve the Christmas shopping problem every year: This year, for example, Thanksgiving falls on the late date of Nov. 26.
The Senate resolution was signed into law by Roosevelt on Dec. 26, 1941, and the fourth Thursday in November has been the day we celebrate Thanksgiving ever since!
Read on for more fun facts about Turkey Day, and for the history of another Thanksgiving element, check out The Surprising Reason Behind the Name "Black Friday."
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30 Thanksgiving Facts to Share With Your Family
Thanksgiving is a special holiday for many popular reasons—the food, the family, and the football are just a few. Less well known, however, are the many fascinating facts behind the holiday's history, traditions, and myths. The truth is, for many of us, there's a lot we don't know about the holiday we celebrate every fourth Thursday in November. So before carving up your family's turkey this year, take the time to learn some of the most interesting Thanksgiving facts we could find. At the very least, you'll have some fun (and harmless) dinner conversation to contribute. And for what not do to this strange year, The CDC Says These Are the Riskiest Thanksgiving Activities to Avoid.
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1. The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for plumbers.
Black Friday isn't just big business for retailers: Plumbers and drain cleaners get in on the action, too. According to Roto-Rooter, the day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for those who keep water flowing and going in homes and businesses. In related news, they also recommend not pouring cooking oil down your drain. For more necessary advice for homeowners, check out This Is the Most Germ-Infested Item in Your Home, Study Finds.
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2. Americans eat 704 million pounds of turkey every Thanksgiving.
According to the National Turkey Federation, around 44 million turkeys were served at Thanksgiving in the United States in 2017. That's compared to 22 million pounds at Christmas and 19 million at Easter. The average weight of each, meanwhile, was 16 pounds, which means we're gobbling up 704 million pounds of turkey across the country.
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3. The Butterball hotline answers 100,000 turkey-related questions every year.
Butterball, a popular turkey company, opens a turkey hotline each November and December to answer any turkey-related questions you may have. Founded in 1981, the Turkey Talk Line went from receiving a modest 11,000 questions that first year to answering more than 100,000 questions across the U.S. and Canada every holiday season. Before you call that number, check out these 23 Fascinating Turkey Facts Just in Time for Thanksgiving.
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4. 'Jingle Bells' was originally a Thanksgiving song.
"Jingle Bells," the classic Christmas song written by James Lord Pierpont in 1857, wasn't meant to be about Christmas. Originally titled "One Horse Open Sleigh," the ditty was meant to be sung on Thanksgiving. When it was reprinted in 1859, however, the name was changed to "Jingle Bells, or the One Horse Open Sleigh," and was prescribed for Christmas.
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5. FDR once moved Thanksgiving up a week.
In the midst of the Great Depression, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up one week in order to allow more time for shopping before Christmas. Otherwise, it would have fallen on Nov. 30. The move spurred intense public reaction, though none as memorable as the stunt pulled by Atlantic City's then-mayor,
C.D. White. In a public statement issued the day before the new Thanksgiving as designated by Roosevelt, White announced that his city would celebrate two days of thanks and that the earlier date would
be known as "Franksgiving."
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The Case for Making a Thanksgiving Chicken
The opinions in this poultry-centric rant are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.It’s clear we have been misled by Big Turkey, tricked into thinking we can’t eat a better bird on Thanksgiving. We’ve been trained to think of chicken as quotidian, something that isn’t nearly special enough to get the holiday treatment, but be honest: How often are you roasting a whole, dressed up chicken? Everyday chicken is a boneless skinless breast or freezer nuggets—the chicken equivalent of a turkey sandwich, which somehow doesn’t disqualify a whole turkey from celebratory main course duty. Open your eyes, man! The game is rigged.
It is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of the eleventh month, and for a reason , writes Fox News. In response, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Presidential Proclamation, which moved Thanksgiving from the last Thursday of November to the second to provide more “shopping”
signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November . For some scholars, the jury is still out on whether the feast at Plymouth really constituted the first Thanksgiving in the “The reason that we have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving is that it is an invented tradition.
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6. The first Thanksgiving lasted three days.
The event commonly referred to as the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in October 1621. It was organized by Governor William Bradford of Plymouth, Massachusetts, to celebrate the recent immigrants' first successful corn harvest in the New World. While the meal lacked much of what is now common Thanksgiving fare—there's no record of turkey being served, for example—there were at least five deer carcasses present, and the event lasted a full three days.
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7. The woman who got Thanksgiving reinstated as a national holiday also wrote 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.'
Sarah Hale is known as the "
Mother of Thanksgiving" because, at a time when the holiday was only celebrated in the Northeast, she spent four decades campaigning for a national day of thanks. In 1863, she finally persuaded then-President
Abraham Lincoln to reinstate the holiday nationwide. In addition, Hale was also a successful editor and poet, penning the famous "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and retiring at the ripe age of 90.
For the seasonal film almost everyone will be watching this year, check out This Is the Single Most Popular Holiday Movie of All Time, Survey Says.
20 Easy Plant-Based Recipes for Beginners That Will Make You Drool
Thanks in large part to the long-anticipated overhaul of Canada's Food Guide in 2019 – and its emphasis on introducing more plant-based protein recipes from sources such as beans, nuts, whole grains and lentils – more and more Canadians are considering the transition to a vegan diet. Although this can be a daunting task for some, eschewing meat doesn't have to mean saying goodbye to some of your comfort food favourites – all they need is a clever plant-based twist. From protein-packed tacos and vegan pizza to meatless burgers and waffles, it's easier to maintain a vegan diet than you might think.
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8. George H.W. Bush's presidential 'pardon' of a turkey was a joke of sorts.
The tradition of U.S. presidents receiving turkeys as gifts can be traced back to the 1870s, but it was
Harry S. Truman who became the first to receive one from the Poultry and Egg National Board and the National Turkey Federation in 1947. It was intended, perhaps, as a peace offering by the poultry industry after egg growers sent crates of live chickens to the White House labeled "Hens for Harry," an act of protest against the president's short-lived encouragement of "poultry-less Thursdays." And though the
Truman Library & Museum disputes that he was the first to "pardon" a presidential turkey,
a murky tradition of presidents receiving—but not eating—turkeys began. It continued under the administrations of Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan.
In 1989, following this tradition, the first official turkey "pardon" was granted by George H.W. Bush. With animal rights activists standing nearby, the president quipped that "this fine tom turkey…will not end up on anyone's dinner table, not this guy—he's granted a presidential pardon as of right now." The rest, as they say, is history.
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9. Canada celebrates a totally different Thanksgiving.
You might've believed Thanksgiving was purely American, but it's celebrated in Canada, too. Instead of the last Thursday in November, however, it falls on the second Monday of every October. The first to be nationally declared was held in 1872 to celebrate the medical recovery of the Prince of Wales. The prince had been suffering from a fever which had "fill[ed] the minds of all loyal subjects with the deepest anxiety," according to the The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times. And that's why our neighbors to the north give thanks!
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10. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons used to just be let go after the show.
The first large-scale balloon used in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was Felix the Cat in 1927, replacing the earlier zoo animals that were used in the first three iterations of the parade. Because there were no plans yet for deflating the balloons, most were simply allowed to float away afterwards. Unfortunately, this strategy didn't prove very effective, as most popped shortly after being released.
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11. Before 1997, there were no size regulations on Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons.
In 1997, the Barney balloon was ripped along its abdomen due to strong winds, while the Pink Panther had to be stabbed by police in order to be stabilized. The worst event occurred, meanwhile, when Cat in the Hat struck a lamppost at 72nd Street and then crumpled to the ground. In response to 1997's calamities, organizers of the parade instituted size regulations that required all balloons to be no larger than 70 feet high, 78 feet long, and 40 feet wide.
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12. About 50 million people watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade annually.
Approximately 50 million Americans tune in to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade each year. Another 3.5 million people view it in person, and roughly 10,000 participate—in non-pandemic years, at least. And though the parade doesn't begin until 9 a.m. ET, many spectators arrive as early as 6:30 a.m.—lining the streets of New York—to get a spot along the route.
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13. More people travel to Orlando, Florida than anywhere else on Thanksgiving.
According to estimates by AAA, over 55 million Americans traveled 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving in 2019. The most popular of these destinations—according to booking info—were Orlando, Florida, closely followed Anaheim, California, then New York City. No doubt, 2020 traffic patterns will look quite different as the pandemic has people sheltering in place, but these locations will likely be just as popular in 2021.
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14. The original TV dinner was the result of a Thanksgiving miscalculation.
The original TV dinner was the result of a Thanksgiving miscalculation. In 1953, an executive at Swanson miscalculated the company's upcoming Thanksgiving turkey sales, leaving the company with some 260 tons of frozen fowl following the holiday. Fortunately for Swanson, a salesman by the name of Gerry Thomas suggested packaging the excess product into trays—along with some traditional sides—and selling them to consumers as TV dinners. Thomas was apparently inspired by the pre-portioned trays used to serve airplane food.
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15. More than four-fifths of Americans prefer the leftovers to the meal.
According to a 2015 Harris Poll, a large majority of Americans (81 percent) prefer the leftovers of the Thanksgiving meal to the meal itself. Another finding: Millennials look forward to the turkey portion of the meal less than any other age group.
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16. Red wine is the most popular Thanksgiving tipple.
According to a 2017 survey by the alcohol delivery service Drizly, about 50% of households serve red wine with Thanksgiving dinner. Only 10% go with white. The rest are pouring something else, whether that's soft drinks, beers, or cocktails.
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17. The turkey isn't to blame for your post-dinner slump.
A widely accepted myth will have you believe that it's the main dish of the meal that makes you eager for a nap after you eat Thanksgiving dinner. But it's time to stop blaming the turkey and its tryptophan for your sluggishness. Though the amino acid does help your body produce melatonin, which promotes relaxation and sleep, turkey doesn't have any more of it than its poultry brethren. So why the immediate desire to nod off? Because eating a big meal—any big meal—makes you sleepy.
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18. One Connecticut town delayed Thanksgiving because of a pumpkin pie shortage.
Well, sort of. Pumpkin pies were mostly popular as a Thanksgiving dessert in New England early in the 18th century, becoming more synonymous with the holiday across the country in the early 20th. But according to History, the town of Colchester in Connecticut agreed to hold the holiday a week when a molasses shortage threatened their ability to make the gourd-based sweet.
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19. Holiday weight gain accounts for most of the thickening associated with aging.
According to a 2000 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the average person gains one pound between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Coupled with the fact that most individuals tend to gain one pound a year throughout adulthood, this seasonal thickening may play a large part in the general weight gain that accompanies age.
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20. Two towns in Texas claim to be the site of the first Thanksgiving.
While the "first Thanksgiving" is generally considered to be that aforementioned meal in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, there are at least two towns in Texas claiming to have been the site of earlier Thanksgiving feasts. El Paso, for one, claims it was host to a day of giving thanks celebrated by the Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate in 1598. The town has been observing that Thanksgiving every April since 1989. Another claim, made by The Texas Society of Daughters of the American Colonists, asserts that the first Thanksgiving was observed by Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado and his expedition in Palo Duro Canyon in 1541. Researchers, however, have since uncovered details to suggest otherwise.
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21. The first national Thanksgiving was declared by George Washington.
The first national Thanksgiving was declared by President George Washington and was celebrated on November 26, 1789. In his "Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789" Washington defines the day as a pious time to thank God for, amongst other things, protecting Americans and helping them achieve independence.
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22. Turkeys are named after the country—the result of confusion about birds.
During the time of the Ottoman Empire, guinea fowl—birds that closely resemble turkeys—were often imported from their native North Africa to Europe, to be eaten. Because Europeans received them from Turkish traders, they referred to them as turkey-hens or turkey-cocks. When settlers from the Americas began sending what we call turkeys back to their European counterparts, the latter—confused by the resemblance—began referring to them by the same name. Thus, we have turkeys!
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23. Minnesota raises the most turkeys in the U.S.
Turkeys apparently prefer cold temperatures and friendly neighbors: Of all U.S. states, Minnesota raised the most turkeys in 2017, according to the USDA. In fact, the 450 turkey farms in the state are responsible for about 18 percent of all turkeys raised and sold in the United States yearly. While Minnesota has perpetually been in the top of the rankings of domestic turkey producers since record keeping began in 1929, they've remained in the very top spot since North Carolina slowed production in 2003.
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24. The first Thanksgiving 'football' game predates the National Football League.
According to the Princeton website, on Thanksgiving in 1876, Princeton and Yale students squared off in Hoboken, New Jersey, playing "what would best be described as an 11-on-11 form of rugby." The schools' showdown became an annual one, eventually moving to New York, where 40,000 fans showed up in 1893.
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25. Benjamin Franklin liked turkeys more than bald eagles.
There's a myth, which is just one of many in American history, that Benjamin Franklin proffered the turkey—a bird he held in much higher esteem than the bald eagle—as a replacement for America's official avian representative. The misconception likely stems from a letter he wrote to his daughter in which he lamented that the "bald eagle…is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly…[he] is too lazy to fish for himself," while the turkey is "a much more respectable bird." But that's as far as his turkey fandom went.
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26. The tradition of cracking the wishbone is an ancient one.
For some, Thanksgiving dinner isn't complete until the bird's wishbone is snapped, bestowing luck on the bearer of the bigger piece. Would you believe that this custom is thousands of years older than the holiday? Wishing on bird bones traces back to the ancient Etruscans, who used chickens to help them predict the future. After the chickens died, the Etruscans would dry their wishbones—or furcula—in the sun and keep them as good luck charms.
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27. Thanksgiving is America's second favorite holiday.
According to another Harris Poll, this one from 2011, Thanksgiving is the second favorite holiday among American adults, behind Christmas and ahead of Halloween for millennials, Gen Xers, and baby boomers. At least we can all agree on that!
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28. Thanksgiving is the most popular day in the U.S. for racing.
Runners World reports that Thanksgiving has been the most popular holiday to race for much of the 2010s. "In recent years, Turkey Trots have become as synonymous with Thanksgiving as the turkey itself," says Michael Schiferl, EVP of Integrated Media at Weber Shandwick. "In fact, more than one million people participate in upwards of 1,300 races in the United States annually—making Thanksgiving the largest race day of the entire year."
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29. Sixty percent of Americans would rather do anything other than think about what they're grateful for on Thanksgiving.
As Amy Morin, LCSW, wrote for Psychology Today, 71 percent of Americans report feeling stress during the holiday season beginning on Thanksgiving. In addition, three in five respondents reported preferring to do something other than think about what they're grateful for during Thanksgiving, including such activities watching football, reading a book, or playing with a pet. Twelve percent of Americans even stated that they'd rather spend time on their smartphones than have a meaningful conversation with their family. But here's why it's time to change that…
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30. Giving back makes families closer and happier.
Thanksgiving is, for many, a time not only to be thankful but to give back: witness the countless examples of individuals donating their time to serve or cook Thanksgiving meals in need. Did you know, however, that a strong tradition of giving back—as cemented on holidays like Thanksgiving—can set your family up for a lifetime of happiness? According to a poll conducted by Fidelity Charitable, 48 percent of people who grew up "with strong giving traditions" considered themselves to be happy today compared with 33 percent of people who did not grow up with such traditions. It also helps keep families together: 81 percent of those with strong giving traditions reported their core family as being "very close" compared with 71 percent of people without strong giving traditions.
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13 quotes about gratitude that are perfect for Thanksgiving 2020 .
Thanksgiving 2020 will be a bit different this year, but there's still lots of be grateful for.Whether you read these 13 quotes from our TODAY Parenting Team community at your Thanksgiving dinner table or spend time alone quietly contemplating what you're grateful for, we hope they will inspire.
Turkey day isn't cancelled, but with all the efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, expect it to be different.One of the busiest travel holidays of the year, the long Thanksgiving weekend is one that many people traditionally head home for, but this year the experts say it's best to avoid travel, if possible, to lower the risk for getting and transmitting the virus. "Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others," noted the CDC. 
"You want to take a couple of steps back and say, 'Is it worth it for this year?'"Thanksgiving is less than a month away, and experts are warning about safety issues related to the holiday. Small gatherings are already driving outbreaks across the country, Anthony Fauci, M.D., the country’s top infectious disease expert, warned in a new interview, and Thanksgiving dinner could lead to even more spread of the virus. 
For decades, Erick Williams could give or take mac and cheese. But opening his restaurant, Virtue, forced him give the dish another chance. The result? A mac-and-cheese that's good enough for the holidays.“For years I used to do homeless feeds on Thanksgiving, so that I could get out of the cooking at home, which is a much heavier lift,” he explains. “Home stoves are weird, there’s not enough space in a lot of home kitchens, it’s an all-day event.” But when cooking for people experiencing homelessness, he says, “I can get up early in the morning. I can put out a lot of food that’s delicious. It’s super rewarding. And then I could be home at 11, and then sit and eat cereal. 
The opinions in this poultry-centric rant are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.It’s clear we have been misled by Big Turkey, tricked into thinking we can’t eat a better bird on Thanksgiving. We’ve been trained to think of chicken as quotidian, something that isn’t nearly special enough to get the holiday treatment, but be honest: How often are you roasting a whole, dressed up chicken? Everyday chicken is a boneless skinless breast or freezer nuggets—the chicken equivalent of a turkey sandwich, which somehow doesn’t disqualify a whole turkey from celebratory main course duty. Open your eyes, man! The game is rigged. 
Thanks in large part to the long-anticipated overhaul of Canada's Food Guide in 2019 – and its emphasis on introducing more plant-based protein recipes from sources such as beans, nuts, whole grains and lentils – more and more Canadians are considering the transition to a vegan diet. Although this can be a daunting task for some, eschewing meat doesn't have to mean saying goodbye to some of your comfort food favourites – all they need is a clever plant-based twist. From protein-packed tacos and vegan pizza to meatless burgers and waffles, it's easier to maintain a vegan diet than you might think. 
How to celebrate Thanksgiving safely this year, according to health experts 
How to Plan Your Thanksgiving Within the Latest COVID-19 Guidelines 
The Perfect Thanksgiving Mac and Cheese, From the Chef Who Was Most Ambivalent 
The Case for Making a Thanksgiving Chicken 
20 Easy Plant-Based Recipes for Beginners That Will Make You Drool 
From Shopping to Prepping, 5 Ways to De-Stress Thanksgiving 
This Thanksgiving Dinner Costs $7 Per Person (and Yes, That Includes Dessert) 
13 quotes about gratitude that are perfect for Thanksgiving 2020 
