Thanksgiving: Facts and Figures

With Thanksgiving approaching this week, we wanted to take a look at a few numerical facts and figures about the holiday. Keep reading for a text version of all the content in the image, plus more!

Thanksgiving Timeline:

• Fall 1621 - The first Thanksgiving is observed in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• 1789 - President George Washington declares November 26 a day of national thanksgiving, although there was no national Thanksgiving Day for several years. 
• 1863 - President Abraham Lincoln establishes the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.
• 1924 - The first ever Macy's Day Parade takes place in New York City and draws a audience of over 250,000 people. 
• 1934 - The first year the Detroit Lions played football on Thanksgiving Day. They played the Chicago Bears at Detroit Stadium in front of 26,000 fans. 
• 1939 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt moves Thanksgiving Day one week earlier to help boost the holiday shopping season. 
• 1941 - Congress rules that the fourth Thursday in November will be Thanksgiving Day, at the same time making it a federal legal holiday. 
• 1989 - President George H. W. Bush pardons the first turkey. Although the public presentation of a turkey to the President had been a tradition since the 1940's, and a few presidents before had decide to not eat that turkey, this was the first year a president used the term "pardon," which has now become a Thanksgiving tradition. 

Food Facts and Figures:

• Thanksgiving is America's 2nd favorite holiday behind Christmas. 

• An estimated 46 million turkeys are consumed on Thanksgiving Day. That's one fifth of the 235 million turkeys consumed annually in the United States. 

• 88% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day. 

• In 2014, an estimated 856 million pounds of cranberries, 2.4 billion pounds of sweet potatoes, and 656 tons of green beans were produced in the United States. 

• There are 17 ridges on a 14-ounce can of Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce. 

• On Average, Americans consume 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving dinner.

• Americans will spend an estimated $2.8 billion on Thanksgiving dinners this year.

• In 2013, 15 million Americans dined out for Thanksgiving, 14 million Americans ordered at least part of their Thanksgiving dinner, and 4 million Americans ordered take-out for their entire Thanksgiving dinner. 

• Almost 50 million people typically watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television, while around 3 million people attend the parade. 

• In 2014, 46.3 million Americans traveled at least 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving. 

Well there you have it, just a few facts and figures about Thanksgiving. The Center of Math wants to say that we are thankful for all of our fans and customers who have supported us over the years. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, so THANK YOU! And we wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving!

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Bonus: If you would like to see how many combinations of turkey dinners you can make for Thanksgiving dinner, then check out this video created by us!