![\"pic\"](\"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/pic11.jpg\")
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Like I\u2019ve mentioned before, I\u2019m a former competitive eater. Which is why it should come as no surprise that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It\u2019s the one day of the year during which everyone can put their diets aside and tap into their inner competitive eater.<\/p>\n
Of course, a bountiful feast is only one part of the holiday. The other part is the whole \u201cgiving thanks\u201d thing. So, in between bites of turkey and stuffing, try to take some time to reflect on what you\u2019re thankful for this year. I\u2019m thankful for my family, for my health and for the chance to write about something I love (watermelon!) here on this blog.<\/p>\n
Leave a comment below with what you\u2019re thankful for this year. While you think about it, here are a few strange Thanksgiving facts for you to chat about around the table this year:<\/p>\n
\u2013 Did you know that Thanksgiving gets partial credit for the invention of the TV dinner? When the folks at Swanson misjudged the number of turkeys they\u2019d sell in 1953 (they were off by 26 TONS), a member of the company\u2019s team came up with the idea to slice up the extra turkey and repackage it with side dishes in easy-to-prepare frozen meals.<\/p>\n
\u2013 The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for plumbers. We won\u2019t go into details on this one, and it\u2019s probably best NOT to talk about this fact around the dinner table<\/p>\n
\u2013 Ben Franklin once led an effort to make the turkey our national bird. According to Franklin, the bald eagle had \u201cbad moral character,\u201d while the turkey was a \u201cmuch more respectable bird.\u201d (More respectable and <\/em>more delicious!<\/p>\n \u2013 Turkey was actually NOT served at the first Thanksgiving feast\u2026at least not that we know of. Pretty much the only things that we do know were on the menu were venison, corn and fish. They did serve various types of fowl, but turkeys were likely not one of them. Oh, and there was no watermelon at the first Thanksgiving, despite what my edits to the photo above might suggest.<\/p>\n UP NEXT: How did people discover that watermelon was good to eat?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Like I\u2019ve mentioned before, I\u2019m a former competitive eater. Which is why it should come as no surprise that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It\u2019s the one day of the year during which everyone can put their diets aside and tap into their inner competitive eater. Of course, a bountiful feast is only one part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[370,240],"class_list":{"0":"post-1686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"tag-thanksgiving-watermelon","9":"tag-watermelon-history","10":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n