I Yam What I Yam, and Other Trivial Thanksgiving Facts

Here's a bit of Thanksgiving Day trivia to add to the festivities:

1. Did you know that our National Bird almost was not the bald eagle but the wild turkey? Benjamin Franklin did not hold the eagle in great regard.

"The turkey is a much more respectable Bird and withal a true original Native of North America," Franklin remarked.    

2. The editor of the Brick, NJ, Patch offers this cranberry-themed trivia question: What work of classic American fiction describes a main character as "crazy," because he refused cranberries? (The answer is below)

3. I yam what I yam, said Popeye... But what's the diff between sweet potatoes and yams, you ask? Same thing? Not by a long shot! They're both flowering plants, but that's about it. Yams are related to lilies, of all things, and sweet potatoes are members of the morning glory family. To find the lowdown, according to the Library of Congress, click here.

4. Saving the best for last, of course, here's some Thanksgiving pie trivia.

Of the traditional Thanksgiving pies – pecan, cherry, apple, pumpkin, lemon meringue - which is the least calorically harmful, and which is the worst? Shape magazine has the skinny - or the not-so-skinny, as it were. 

5. Thought for the day

"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No American have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving." -  H.U. Westermayer

Quote courtesy of The Quote Garden

Answer to the cranberry question:

The book is Moby Dick and the character is Captain Ahab. A sailor said of Ahab, "Go out with that crazy Ahab? Never! He refused to take cranberries aboard. A man could get scurvy, or worse, whaling with the likes of 'im."