Founding father Ben Franklin wasn`t a fan of our national symbol. In a letter to his daughter he called the bald eagle a bird of bad moral character.What would he have preferred? Well, Ben Franklin liked the turkey. He called it more respectable and courageous despite being a little silly. Now, that`s random.But a dove tails nicely into our five facts about Thanksgiving report: one, it`s America`s second favorite holiday.Christmas is first, turkeys are often on the menu for both, so bad news for them.Two, they probably weren`t at the table at the first Thanksgiving. That more likely included geese, ducks and beer.History ties them to a third point. The first Thanksgiving was probably in 1621 when English colonists and Native Americans shared a harvest feast.Four, Thanksgiving wasn`t an official holiday in the U.S. until the Civil War.On October 3 1863, President Lincoln declared the national holiday. That was on a Thursday, and it`s stock.Five, Thanksgiving traditionally kicks of the Christmas shopping season.President Franklin Roosevelt tried to move it to the third Thursday in November to extend shopping season and stimulate the economy.Some states didn`t like that, so in 1942, Thanksgiving was moved to its permanent home on the Fourth Thursday in November.Now that we`ve set the table, it`s time to dig in. This is how the pros do it. I don`t mean your uncle Ralphie. I mean competitive eaters like Joey Chestnut.
