TURKEYS (continued): • George Washington was responsible for proclaiming the first nationwide celebration of thanks in America in 1789, but Thanksgiving wasn’t declared a national holiday until 1863, when Abraham Lincoln decreed the final Thursday in November as the official holiday.
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• The Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October. It was first observed in April of 1872 in recognition of the recovery of the Prince of Wales from a serious illness.
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• What’s in that little plastic bag found in your turkey’s empty body cavity when you bring it home from the store? That bag contains the giblets, which are the turkey’s edible internal parts, including the gizzard, heart, liver, and neck. The gizzard is part of the turkey’s stomach, containing tiny stones that help grind up food in the digestion process. Some cooks chop up the giblets to add to the gravy or stuffing, but in all probability, most giblets end up in the dog’s dish!
NUGGET OF KNOWLEDGE You may have heard it said that eating turkey can make you drowsy. It's true that turkey meat contains an amino acid called tryptophan that the body uses in production of serotonin. Serotonin in turn helps us sleep. But turkey isn't alone in the tryptophan department. All meat has about the same amount, and cheddar cheese has even more, as do nuts and shellfish.
MOMENTS IN TIME • On Nov. 26, 1922, in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, British archaeologists become the first souls to enter King Tutankhamen's tomb in more than 3,000 years. Inside was a collection of several thousand priceless objects, including a gold coffin containing the mummy of the teenage king. • On Nov. 24, 1932, the FBI crime lab opens in Washington, D.C. The lab was chosen because it had the necessary sink. It was operated out of a single room with one full-time employee who began with a borrowed microscope. • On Nov. 27, 1942, French Admiral Jean de Laborde sinks the French fleet anchored off the southern coast of France to keep it out of German hands. Laborde ordered the sinking of eight cruisers, an aircraft transport, 30 destroyers and 16 submarines. • On Nov. 30, 1950, President Harry Truman announces that he is prepared to authorize the use of atomic weapons in order to achieve peace in Korea. At the time, communist China had joined North Korean forces in their attacks on United Nations troops, including U.S. soldiers in South Korea. © 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.
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• On Nov. 29, 1963, one week after President John Kennedy was fatally shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, President Lyndon Johnson establishes a commission to investigate the assassination. The Warren Commission concluded that there was no conspiracy. In 1978, the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy" that may have involved multiple shooters and organized crime. • On Nov. 28, 1979, a New Zealand sightseeing plane traveling over Antarctica crashes, killing all 257 people on board, after the pilot descended to 1,500 feet. The pilot didn't know that his descent came right as the plane reached Mount Erebus, a 12,444-foot volcano. • On Nov. 25, 1980, Sugar Ray Leonard regains boxing's welterweight title when his opponent, reigning champ Roberto Duran, waves his arms and walks away from the fight in the eighth round. "No mas, no mas," Duran told the referee. "No more box."
• The meat of an older, larger male turkey is preferred over that of a younger bird, which is usually stringy and tougher. However, when it comes to female turkeys, the meat of a younger bird is better. • Benjamin Franklin favored the turkey as a symbol for America over the chosen bald eagle, saying, “I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character; the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird…a true original native of America. Eagles have been found in all countries, but the turkey was peculiar to ours.”