Happy Thanksgiving 2015! Turkey, Plymouth Pilgrims, Macy's Day Parade & More Fun Trivia Facts

Happy Thanksgiving, MstarsNews readers! In celebration of this festive holiday, check out these awesome facts that you can share around the dinner table with friends and family this Thursday (November 26). Enjoy!

- When the Pilgrims first arrived on the Mayflower in Plymouth (Massachusetts), the Wampanoag Indians were the first to help and teach them how to cultivate the land.

- Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States.

- The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tradition began in the 1920s.

- Four places in the Untied States are named after the popular dinner bird - Turkey Creek (Louisiana), Turkey, (Texas), Turkey (North Carolina), and Turkey Creek (Arizona). Oh, and the two townships in Pennsylvania - Upper Turkeyfoot and Lower Turkeyfoot.

- The parade was canceled in 1942, 1943, and 1944 because of World War II.

- A 15-pound turkey usually has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.

- Canadians celebrate, too - but on the second Monday in October (not fourth Thursday in November).

- Only male turkeys (or toms) gobble. Females (or hens) actually cackle.

-  Thomas Jefferson considered the concept of Thanksgiving "the most ridiculous idea [he'd] ever heard."

- Twenty percent of cranberries consumed by humans are eaten on Thanksgiving.

- The traditional cornucopia was a curved goat's horn filled with fruits and grains. Greek legend says that Amalthea (a goat) broke one of her horns and offered it to Zeus as a sign of reverence. As gratitude, the God then set the goat's image in the sky (also known as the constellation Capricorn). Now a common symbol of the harvest festival, a horn-shaped container is filled with abundance of the Earth's harvest (or 'horn of plenty').

- Magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale convinced Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday. She also wrote the beloved nursery rhyme, "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

Anything else to add? Share your traditions in the comments section below!