Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Here's some more Thanksgiving trivia for you:

On December 11, 1620, the first Pilgrims (or Puritans, as they were initially known) landed at Plymouth Rock. By the fall of 1621 only half of the pilgrims, who had sailed on the Mayflower, survived. The survivors, thankful to be alive, decided to give a thanksgiving feast.

The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land. The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, who had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in the year 1621, invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians also to the feast. The first Thanksgiving feast was held in the presence of around ninety Wampanoag Indians and the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, was also invited there.

The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.