At this time of year we are all reminded to give thanks with an open heart.
Thanksgiving is a celebration of our great nation and the many blessings that occur when people unite together in the spirit of communication. As you’re gathered around the table this year, here’s some turkey data trivia to share:
• History: In a letter to his daughter Sarah Bache, Ben Franklin wrote he preferred the turkey to the eagle as a symbol. “For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America…He is besides, tho’ a little vain and silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”1
• Food science: Frying vegetables could make them healthier! Popular Science reports, “A recent study at the University of Granada in Spain has found frying vegetables in extra virgin olive oil changes them for the better, adding phenolic compounds, which have antioxidant properties.”2
• Sports: 2018 will be the 84th year the Detroit Lions have hosted a Thanksgiving Day game.3 The tradition owes to the team’s early unpopularity. According to Sports Illustrated, “The Lions were unable to replicate the success of their fellow
local sports teams and struggled to even draw 15,000 fans to some of the year’s first few football games in 1934. Owner George A. Richards decided the team could draw a bigger crowd by playing on Thanksgiving.”4
• Economics: During the depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the date of Thanksgiving so that it fell earlier in November. He wanted to give retailers more time to sell before the holidays – and advertising before Thanksgiving was considered to be crass! Thanksgiving Day, as we know it, was signed into law in 1941.
We’re honored and grateful you’ve chosen to be a part of our community at Mission Point Planning. We hope you have a wonderful holiday and from our families to yours, aside from the plenty of food and football tomorrow we hope you have a bountiful year of fun, faith, family and finances.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sources:
1 http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=41&page=281
2 https://www.popsci.com/fry-away-vegetables-cooked-in-extra-virgin-olive-oil-better-than-boiling
3 http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000745288/article/nfl-research-thanksgiving-games
4 https://www.si.com/nfl/2016/11/22/detroit-lions-dallas-cowboys-thanksgiving-football-game-tradition