Thanksgiving is coming up this week so I thought I would write something fun. I starting looking into facts about Thanksgiving that I wasn't aware of.

1. TV Dinners

Swanson created TV dinners in 1953 because they needed to find something to do with 260 tons of frozen turkeys that were left over from Thanksgiving.

2. Singapore vs Turkeys

Singapore weighs the same as turkeys consumed in the United States. In 2007 approximately 690 million pounds of turkey were consumed during Thanksgiving. This is equaled by the weight of 448 million individuals weighing on average 154 pounds, the population of Singapore.

3. Turkeysaurus Rex

Fossil evidence shows that turkey like creatures roamed the America 75 million years ago. Turkeys have certainly changed but giant birds are still here.

4. Records

The Guinness Book of records states that the heaviest turkey on record was 86lbs.

5. Macy's Parade

Up until 1933 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons were released into the air at the conclusion of the parade. The balloons would stay airborne above the city for as long as a week. Return addresses were stitched into the balloon and people who would return the balloons would receive a $100.

6. Breaking the Law

It's against the law in the states of Maine, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts for supermarkets, department stores, and other big box stores to be open on Thanksgiving Day.

7. First Parade

First Macy's parade took place in New York City in 1924. IT was launched by Macy's employees and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo.

8. Turkey Shoot

The phrase "turkey shoot" comes from the 19th-century practice of tying turkeys beyond logs on Thanksgiving mornings. The turkeys head were exposed and then holding a marksmanship competition trying to shoot the turkey's head off.

9. Thanksgiving Eve

The night before Thanksgiving is the biggest drinking night of the year, even bigger than St. Patricks Day or New Years Day.

10. Flying Turkeys

Domesticated turkeys can not fly, but wild turkeys can. Wild turkeys can fly for short distances and up to 55 miles per hour. They can also run up to 20 miles per hour.

11. Jingle Bells

Jingle Bells was originally written as a Thanksgiving song, James Pierpont composed the song in 1857 for children celebrating Thanksgiving at his Boston Sunday School. The song gained popularity so quickly that it was continuously repeated at Christmas.

12. Unthanksgiving Day

This is held every year on the island of Alcatraz since 1975, "Unthanksgiving Day" commemorates the survival of Native Americans following the arrival and settlement of Europeans in the Americas.

13. Cranberries

Cranberries are a Thanksgiving staples but they were actually used by Native Americans to treat arrow wounds and to dye clothes.

14. Turkey and the Air Force

Turkeys have heart attacks when Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop dead.

15. Thanksgiving becomes a holiday

Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, campaigned to make Thanksgiving a National Holiday in 1827 and succeeded.

These were just some of the fun facts that I learned about Thanksgiving. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to give thanks to the important things in life. Happy Thanksgving!