Every year Americans come together at the end of November to celebrate giving thanks to their friends and families and usually eat a large meal with things like turkey and stuffing. This is to commemorate the first Thanksgiving that happened in 1621. The story goes that the Pilgrims from England came on over, landed at a place called Plymouth Rock, got hungry, found a dude named Squanto and had a real cool feast with some Natives.

What most people don’t realize however is how many myths are spread around and are associated with the holiday. So I wrote this article so that you can be the annoying relative at the table this year.

The Pilgrims may not have held the first Thanksgiving. It may be credited to Spanish explorers in Texas in 1598. Apparently after a long hike the first Thanksgiving was held in a small Texas town near El Paso.

Turkey was not eaten by the pilgrims, the only thing that is certain they ate was deer. They didn’t have corn or cranberries either.

Pilgrims didn’t wear buckles, funny hats, or black. These items were just symbols in art.

Pilgrims and puritans are two different things. Pilgrims came to America for not only religious reasons but for the search of riches as well. Puritans came over 10 years later and for purely religious reasons.

Thanksgiving was not really celebrated much in the nation in areas other than New England and was only really made an official holiday by Lincoln as a sort of thank you for Civil War victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg.

So in conclusion, everything that you have ever learned about Thanksgiving is wrong. Despite this, its not what started it that matters, but what it symbolizes today.