1. How many species of turkeys are there in the world?
Two. The wild turkey, Meleagris gallopovo, which lives in the United States and in parts of Mexico, and the ocellated turkey, M. ocellata, a smaller species inhabiting Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, according to the National Wild Turkey Federation.
2. True or false: Turkeys can't fly.
False. People assume that the turkey can't fly because it feeds on nuts and berries on the ground, but wild turkeys can fly. Turkeys roost in trees at night and can fly up to 55 mph (in shorts bursts), according to Live Science. The Tom Turkey you'll eat on Thanksgiving never got a chance to fly before he was fattened up.
3. How many turkeys are eaten on Thanksgiving?
Forty-six million! That averages out to three pounds of turkey per person that celebrates, according to Live Science. Americans shell out $875 million for their day of feasting.
4. True or false: Turkeys are so stupid that they look up when it rains and drown.
Totally false. Even the not street-savvy domestic turkey doesn't do that. The rumor might have been started by farmers whose turkeys died during a thunderstorm, according to the National Wild Turkey Federation. Those birds probably freaked out from the thunder and lightning, huddled together in the pen, which caused the ill-fated turkeys in the corner to suffocate.
5. What do you call a young turkey?
Junior. Just kidding! Baby turkeys are called poults.
6. Turkeys are terrible swimmers.
False. Well, we now know that turkeys won't drown in a rain shower, but while they may not win the synchronized swimming gold medal in the Olympics, turkeys can swim when they need to, according to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
7. There are no cool songs about Thanksgiving.
False (unless you hate "Jingle Bells"). James Pierpoint composed "One Horse Open Sleigh" in 1857 and people loved it so much that they sang it for Christmas. The song ended up sticking to Christmas and the title was changed to "Jingle Bells" in 1859.
8. TV dinners were invented because of leftover turkey.
This one is true. In 1953, Swanson miscalculated the number of turkeys needed for Thanksgiving by a tiny bit - just 260 tons, according to Smithsonian Magazine. Swanson salesman Gerry Thomas pulled inspiration from airline food trays and Swanson sold 10 million turkey dinners in the first full year of production.
9. Thanksgiving has been a national holiday since George Washington declared it so.
False. When George Washington declared the "Day of Publick Thanksgivin," it had to be declared on a year-to-year basis. Unlike the turkey-loving Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson allegedly called Thanksgiving "the most ridiculous idea ever conceived," and refused to declare it a holiday, according to Business Insider. Jefferson believed so whole-heartedly about the separation of church and state that he considered Thanksgiving a day of prayer and not a holiday to be celebrated federally. Thanksgiving was cancelled during his presidency.
10. Thanksgiving has always been on the last Thursday of November.
False. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was concerned about economic recovery when the last Thursday in November fell on the last day of the month, according to the National Archives. FDR issued a Presidential Proclamation moving Thanksgiving to the second to last Thursday of November to lengthen the Christmas shopping period.
Thirty-two states followed suit, while 16 states refused to change. For two years, Thanksgiving was celebrated on two days - one day by the president and part of the United States and the following week by the rest of the country.
