The first official Thanksgiving feast took place in Plymouth Colony. Founded by a group of separatists who later became known as the Pilgrims, Plymouth Colony was, along with Jamestown, Virginia, one of the first colonies to be founded by the English in North America. The first settlement was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. This settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Squanto helped the settlers survive in the New World by teaching them how to catch eel & grow corn, as well as serving as their native interpreter. Native American chiefs Massassoit & Samoset, along with 90 of their men also joined the celebration.

There is no evidence that turkey was eaten at the first Thanksgiving, a three-day meal shared between the pilgrims and Wamponoag tribe in 1621, but Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow noted in his journal that the Wampanoag guests arrived with an offering of five deer.

"Jingle Bells" was originally composed for children to sing in a Boston Sunday School celebration. It was meant for the Thanksgiving season and had no connection to Christmas.

In the U.S., Thanksgiving is celebrated on the Fourth Thursday in November. (Canadians observe Thanksgiving on the Second Monday in October.)

Pilgrims ate the first Thanksgiving meal with a knife, a spoon, and their fingers. The fork was introduced 10 years later by Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts, but didn't really catch on until the 18th century.

Only 4 adult women were left in the entire colony: Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Fisher Hopkins, Mary Brewster, and Susanna White Winslow. Of course, they were the ones who cooked and served the first Thanksgiving meal.

According to the Calorie Control Council, the average Thanksgiving dinner contains 4,500 calories--that's 3,000 for the meal itself and another 1,500 for drinks, desserts and appetizers.

With the exception of 1975 & 1977, the Dallas Cowboys have participated in an NFL football game every Thanksgiving Day since 1966.

The Gimbels Parade, now known as the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade, was first held in Philadelphia in 1920.