The history behind the Thanksgiving story

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By Olivia B. Waxman

Staff Writer

For the past four years, I've written a story about the origins of the myths and misconceptions about the Pilgrims and the 1621 meal known as the "First Thanksgiving." This year, I asked several members of the tribe that helped the Pilgrims survive how they feel about the way the history behind the Thanksgiving holiday is discussed. Four hundred years after an epidemic decimated their population shortly before the Pilgrims landed in Cape Cod, Mass., the Wampanoag are yet again facing a deadly disease and threats to the ownership of their own land. Click here to read the Wampanoag people's insights on the striking parallels between 1620 and 2020.

Here’s more of the history that made news this week:

HISTORY ON TIME.COM

The Long Fight Over a Turkey-Free Thanksgiving

By Adrienne Bitar

A Thanksgiving menu featuring 'mock turkey' made entirely from vegetarian ingredients was published as early as 1894

Thanksgiving Wasn't Always a National Holiday

By Olivia B. Waxman

The woman who made it happen is also known for writing "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

The Way American Kids Are Learning About the 'First Thanksgiving' Is Changing

By Olivia B. Waxman

The typical Thanksgiving lesson reflects neither the 17th century truth nor the 21st century understanding of it

How Canadian Thanksgiving Is Different From the U.S. Version

By Olivia B. Waxman

The date difference — one is in October, the other in November — isn't the only thing that separates the two holidays

We Know Less About the First Thanksgiving Than You Probably Think

By Olivia B. Waxman

For all of the fanfare around the holiday, there is almost no historical record about the First Thanksgiving

FROM THE TIME VAULT

Today in 1984: The U.S. in Space

“The image could have come from a once and future fantasy, yet it aired on the evening news. A U.S. astronaut, looking like a modern knight-errant in shining space suit, sallies forth into the darkness, powered by a Buck Rogers backpack called an MMU (manned maneuvering unit). Armed with a space-age lance nicknamed the stinger, he spears a stray satellite and rockets back to the mother ship. There, silhouetted against the shimmering earth some 225 miles below, he spins along at 17,500 m.p.h., shouldering his prize like a sci-fi Atlas.” (Nov. 26, 1984)

Today in 1973: TV's Year of the Cop

“He always just happens to be in the neighborhood, hounding his prey relentlessly, unnerving them, distracting them. Then he walks away. But wait. He turns and takes a few steps back into the room. Here it comes. The zinger. ‘Oh, excuse me, sir, but just one more question. I been thinkin', and you know it strikes me kinda funny that…’ Such antics have made Columbo conceivably the most influential, probably the best and certainly the most endearing cop on TV. Which is saying something, since prime-time TV this year is a parlor game of dial-a-cop, a badlands preserve patrolled by a superfluity of sleuths.” (Nov. 26, 1973)

Today in 1956: Dag Hammarskjöld and the U.N.

“Right from the start of the U.N., peace continued to depend upon the restraint of the big powers and the accommodations they were able to reach amongst themselves. Then, three weeks ago, British and French aggression in Egypt suddenly made clear the dismaying fact that when the chips were down, not only Russia but ‘respectable’ major powers as well were willing to take the law into their own hands, breaking their U.N. pledge to renounce force, when they conceived their vital national interests to be at stake. At that moment the U.N. found itself at a critical point when it must either evolve or stagnate and die.” (Nov. 26, 1956)

HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WEB

Just Dessert Get ready for your socially distant Thanksgiving meal with some history facts to share, courtesy of Rachel Grumman Bender at Yahoo! News, who rounds up a treasury of pie trivia.

Saving Grace For the New York Times, Michael Wilson has the inside story of how a young NYPD officer helped save Martin Luther King Jr.’s life when the civil rights leader was stabbed in 1958.

Inclusion Insights Patricia Albjerg Graham writes for the American Historical Association’s Perspectives on History about her experience working on a landmark 1970 report about women in the history profession.

Locking Down In response to a question about enforcement of pandemic public-health restrictions, the Wall Street Journal’s Mike Bird shares some fascinating history about what happened to Londoners who resisted blackout measures during World War II.

Scratch and Sniff A team of researchers have received a grant to re-create the smells of the past. Sheena Goodyear for CBC radio reports on what the project hopes to achieve.