Editor’s Note –  Enjoy the following 10 Thanksgiving Turkey Facts on this day of gratitude and introspection! We hope you share these with your loved ones as you find yourself seated around a delicious Thanksgiving feast:

1. Although Thanksgiving is widely considered an American Holiday observed on the fourth Thursday of every November, it is also celebrated in Canada as the second Monday of every October.

2. The first Thanksgiving was observed in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621 at the Plymouth Plantation where Pilgrims held a three day harvest feast to celebrate a successful growing season.

3. President Abe Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a National Holiday thanks to the tireless efforts of Sarah Josepha who wrote the nursery rhyme Mary Had A Little Lamb.

4. Turkeys have poor night vision but the men in my family who have hunted wild turkey for Thanksgiving dinner tell me they are very smart critters who can fly up to 55 miles per hour (farm raised domesticated turkeys cannot fly).

5. A 16-week-old turkey is called a fryer and a five to seven month old turkey is called a young roster.  A group of domesticated turkeys are called a “Rafter”. A group of wild turkeys is called a “Flock”.

6. Only male turkeys called Toms gobble while female turkeys called Hens cackle and make clucking and clicking sounds.

7. Turkeys have 3,500 feathers at maturity and fossils prove turkeys have roamed the earth for over 10M years.

8. There are four places in the United States named Turkey: Turkey, Texas; Turkey, North Carolina; Turkey Creek, Arizona; Turkey Creek, Louisiana.

9. Minnesota produces more turkeys than any other state in the United States with close to 50M annually.

10. There is a Turkey Talk Hotline at 800.288.8372 to talk to a turkey expert!

Happy Thanksgiving From TaxConnections!