Erik Ridd and Adam Nir

Once a year, we sit down at our dinner tables, look at our family members, and mentally prepare ourselves to gain at least twenty pounds. This year, that day falls on Nov. 28, otherwise known as Thanksgiving.  Even though it will take most of second semester to fit in something other than sweatpants, there is a lot more to this holiday than stuffing (get it? Stuffing?) ourselves with pumpkin delicacies. Here’s the story of how America’s favorite holiday came to be.

The First One

It’s not every day you land on Plymouth Rock. Chances are, none of us have. But back in 1620, a very lucky (or unlucky depending on how you look at it) group of people arrived on a Maryland beach. They called themselves Englishmen but we call them Pilgrims because it sounds a lot cuter.   Life was rough and a lot of them didn’t survive that first winter. But the ones who did, enjoyed a tasty feast on the fourth Thursday of November. Along with their Native American friends, they ate corn, deer, and shellfish. On a side note, whoever came up with the idea of replacing deer and shellfish with turkey, thank you.

Honest Abe

After that fateful day in 1620, colonists forgot all about Thanksgiving. For at least two hundred years, turkeys were spared and pumpkin pies were eaten throughout the year. The day made a comeback when America’s Favorite President, Abraham Lincoln, declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. For those of you who haven’t taken U.S. history yet, that was around the 1860s. Because really, a nice dinner was all the Civil War soldiers could be thankful for besides the abolishment of slavery.

Thanksgiving Today   

Not that many things have changed since the 1860s.  Turkeys are still stuffed, shoved in ovens, and their carcasses ravaged. There is one particular tradition that has survived the years other than grandma’s secret gravy recipe, it’s the tradition of pardoning turkeys. Started by dear old Lincoln, president after president has spared two lucky turkeys each fall. In a speech during the 2012 ceremony, President Obama said, “You know, they say that life is all about second chances. And this November, I could not agree more. So in the spirit of the season, I have one more gift to give. And it goes to a pair of turkeys named Cobbler and Gobbler.”