5 Things to Know About Thanksgiving

Today, many people will celebrate a day of many thanks for the things we are blessed with in life and in this country. So, here is a special holiday-edition of 5 Things (facts come from the Wikipedia page for Thanksgiving):

1. The influence - "According to historian Jeremy Bangs, director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, the Pilgrims may have been influenced by watching the annual services of Thanksgiving for the relief of the siege of Leiden in 1574, while they were staying in Leiden."

2. Conflicts - "The claim of where the first Thanksgiving was held in the United States, and even the Americas has often been a subject of debate. Author and teacher Robyn Gioia and Michael Gannon, of the University of Florida, have argued that the earliest attested "Thanksgiving" celebration in what is now the United States was celebrated by the Spanish on September 8, 1565, in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida.

"Similarly, many historians point out that the first thanksgiving celebration in the United States was held in Virginia, and not in Plymouth. Thanksgiving services were routine in what was to become the Commonwealth of Virginia as early as 1607. A day of Thanksgiving was codified in the founding charter of Berkeley Hundred in Charles City County, Virginia in 1619."

3. Around the world - Places that celebrate some form of Thanksgiving include: United States, Canada, Grenada, Liberia, The Netherlands and Norfolk Island.

4. Parades - The big parade occurs in New York City annually as the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. However, there are some other Thanksgiving Day parades, which include:

• America's Thanksgiving Parade (Detroit, Michigan)
• 6abc IKEA Thanksgiving Day Parade (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
• Ameren Missouri Thanksgiving Day Parade[42] (St. Louis, Missouri)
• America's Hometown Thanksgiving Parade (Plymouth, Massachusetts)
• Belk Carolinas' Carrousel Parade (Charlotte, North Carolina)
• FirstLight Federal Credit Union Sun Bowl Parade[43] (El Paso, Texas)
• H-E-B Holiday Parade[44] (Houston, Texas)
• McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade (Chicago, Illinois)
• My Macy's Holiday Parade (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
• Parada de los Cerros Thanksgiving Day Parade[45] (Fountain Hills, Arizona)
• UBS Parade Spectacular[46] (Stamford, Connecticut) - held the Sunday before Thanksgiving so it doesn't directly compete with the Macy's parade 30 miles away.

5. You can get anything you want... At Alice's Restaurant! "Alice's Restaurant Massacree is a musical monologue by singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie released on his 1967 album Alice's Restaurant. The song is one of Guthrie's most prominent works, based on a true incident in his life that began on Thanksgiving Day 1965, and which inspired a 1969 movie of the same name. Apart from the chorus which begins and ends it, the "song" is in fact a spoken monologue, with a repetitive but catchy ragtime guitar backing."

Many people make it a Thanksgiving Day tradition to listen to Alice's Restaurant. Local radio stations will usually play it at one point or even throughout the day.