WHILE PILGRIMS shared a meal with the Wampanoag people in late 1621, there’s no evidence that turkey was on the menu. However, by the time Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday in 1863, it had become a popular dish to serve for large gatherings.

This is because turkeys were plentiful, and a single bird was usually big enough to feed an entire family. And so, the modern myth of the Thanksgiving Day turkey was born. Who knew?