As all the steaming red, yellow, orange, and green food is set on the table, a family stares in awe of a bountiful feast. The mother and father look at each other in pride as their children gaze in excitement and wonder. One by one, they each sit down in their chair and each person prepares themselves for a wonderful meal. However, the smallest child of the family asks an important question that many have on this holiday. The child asks, “Mommy, how did Thanksgiving begin?”

  The history behind Thanksgiving isn’t so much about when the Pilgrims came from England in 1621. Even though a grand feast and a strong friendship with the Native Americans came about when the pilgrims came, it’s not exactly how it became a national American holiday.

  A woman by the name of Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote the famous nursery rhyme          “Mary had a Little Lamb,” petitioned for the day of thanks for about 40 years.

  Hale began this action around the time the Civil War broke out between the Union and the Confederacy. She wanted a national day of thanks to help families be together with such a deadly war occurring.

  Finally, in 1941, Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday in November would commemorate the occasion of the Thanksgiving holiday. Both President Lincoln and the Confederate President, William Seward, thought the holiday could heal the various wounds that the country’s people endured throughout the war.

  Another crucial event around Thanksgiving is American football games. However, the way it started was by an NFL team and not by the head of the NFL. That team was none other than the Detroit Lions.

  The Detroit Lions hosted the Chicago Bears at the University of Detroit in 1934 with 26,000 fans attending. Even though it was played on Thanksgiving Day, the NBC radio station broadcast the game on 94 stations.This was the first Thanksgiving football broadcast.

  Ever since then, the Lions have played a game on every Thanksgiving. Fans started watching the games on television in 1956.

  Interestingly enough, Thanksgiving isn’t only celebrated in America. It’s celebrated in Canada too, but it’s on the second Monday of October.

  Following that, in 2001, the U.S postal service declared that there would be a Thanksgiving stamp for any letters around the holiday. Artist Margaret Cusak created the stamp with the cornucopia filled with fruits and vegetables along with the phrase, “We give thanks.”

  Furthermore, nearly 88 percent of Americans said they eat turkey at Thanksgiving. The weight of a turkey (on average) is 15 pounds which means about 690 million pounds of turkey were consumed in the United States during Thanksgiving in 2007.

  When the pilgrims came to America, the dinner they had with the Native Americans has been called the first Thanksgiving. However, Thanksgiving isn’t just about the food on the table or rooting for your favorite team during the football game. Thanksgiving is about thanking those who have made an impact on our life and being with family that care about each other.