Thanksgiving: Where It Comes From And Why We Celebrate

Thanksgiving is undoubtedly a widely celebrated tradition in the United States. On the fourth Thursday of each November, government offices and schools close, grocery stores sell an estimated $780 million worth of turkeys, and many Americans will settle down to enjoy quality time with family and football.

But why? A study from WalletHub helps us answer that question. And the answer begins in 1621. This year marks the occasion when settlers of the Plymouth Colony made peace with members of the Native American Wampanog tribe. Their joint harvest feast lasted three days, but created a tradition that still reigns in America almost 400 years later.

More than 150 years after the inaugural Thanksgiving harvest, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday on Oct. 3, 1863. It wasn't until 1989 that presidents began pardoning turkeys. The first president to give rise to this tradition was George H. W. Bush.

But here is where WalletHub gave us a fright. According to their study, the average number of calories consumed on Thanksgiving is 4,500. That's right, more than 4,000 calories in one day, per person. To burn that many calories, you would have to run on a treadmill for 10 hours and 41 minutes. Yikes.

Take a look at many other Thanksgiving statistics below:

Source: WalletHub

Lead image via Pixabay