Turkey Day

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the U. S., a day to give thanks for all that we have. It supposedly originated when first Europeans and Native Americans shared a three day feast in November 1621. Cordial relations between Native Americans and European settlers ended a few years later with disastrous results for the original residents. There’s apparently no record of turkey being eaten during the feast and it was more than two centuries until Thanksgiving Day became a national holiday. Nonetheless, turkey and its accompaniments are now the traditional meal on Thanksgiving Day, including among our own family members.

In honor of the involuntary guest of honor at our thanksgiving meal, here’s a selection of photos of wild turkeys –

The bird, which is native to North and Central America, was named for the country of Turkey apparently because Turkish traders had earlier brought Guinea fowl to Europe and England where it was called the turkey-cock and the heads of the two species appear similar.

By the way, the term “Turkey Day” was first used in 1863, the same year that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a day to give thanks in November. And the first Thanksgiving football game was played between Princeton and Yale in 1876.