I’m also going to talk to you today about the first Thanksgiving history for kids. By autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims had much for which to be thankful. The question of where the first Thanksgiving was held in the United States has been a subject of debate, primarily between New England and Virginia, complicated by the concept of Thanksgiving as a holiday celebration versus a religious service. But as James W. Baker states in his book, Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday, "despite disagreements over the details" the 3-day event in Plymouth in the fall of 1621 was "the historical birth of the American Thanksgiving holiday." Many people believe Thanksgiving is only celebrated in the USA. There is a lot of information that I hear going around about the first Thanksgiving that is just dead wrong. Interestingly enough there are several ideas of how Thanksgiving originated. So how did the Pilgrims and Wampanoag come to be identified with the First Thanksgiving? The Plymouth Pilgrims were a group of settlers who arrived in North America in the early 17th century. In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations. The First Thanksgiving The Pilgrims often had days for giving thanks. Each year, the average American eats somewhere between 16 - 18 pounds of turkey. I’m so glad you found this page, so you can learn some fun Thanksgiving facts for kids! Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621. These days were usually spent fasting and praying, not feasting. In 1621, they celebrated a successful harvest with a three-day gathering that was attended by members of the Wampanoag tribe. The Best Thanksgiving Facts For Kids. After the harvest, Massasoit and about ninety other Indians joined the Pilgrims for the great English tradition of Harvest Festival.The participants celebrated for several days, dining on venison, goose, duck, turkey, fish, and of course, cornbread, the result of a bountiful corn harvest. However, there are actually 12 claims to where the “first” Thanksgiving took place: two in Texas The average long-distance Thanksgiving trip is 214 miles, compared with 275 miles over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday. Thanksgiving, which occurs on the fourth Thursday in November, is based on the colonial Pilgrims' 1621 harvest meal. In fact, it is also celebrated in Canada, but usually a month earlier in October. The first Thanksgiving was a harvest celebration held by the pilgrims of Plymouth colony in the 17th century. The pilgrims were English Protestants who wanted to be free from the English church. He invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians to the feast. 10 Thanksgiving Fun Facts The first Thanksgiving took place in 1621. When the Mayflower pilgrims and the Wampanoag sat down for the first Thanksgiving in 1621, it wasn’t actually that big of a deal.