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Hot Topics
November 19, 2017

HNN Hot Topics: Thanksgiving

Click HERE for our most recent articles.

Why Is Our Thanksgiving Bird Called a Turkey?
by Larry E. Tise

Answer: Because the Turks were the first Old Worlders to domesticate the bird.

NOVEMBER 2008

The Truth About Thanksgiving Is that the Debunkers Are Wrong
by Jeremy Bangs

Setting people straight about Thanksgiving myths has become as much a part of the annual holiday as turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.

NOVEMBER 2005

Thanksgiving Day Myths
by Timothy Walch

So what do most Americans believe happened on that first Thanksgiving Day?

NOVEMBER 2002

Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving
by Rick Shenkman

The Pilgrims didn't even hold the first Thanksgiving.

NOVEMBER 2001

Index

  • News Stories
  • Commentary

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    News

  • Why Americans Call Turkey 'Turkey' (11-27-14)
  • Thanksgiving Used to Look a Lot Like Halloween, Except More Racist (11-27-14)
  • Lincoln's wartime Thanksgiving (11-21-11)
  • The history of the presidential turkey pardon (11-29-09)
  • It's time to talk turkey about Thanksgiving traditions (11-21-09)
  • National heritage day honors American Indians (11-28-08)
  • 10 things you didn't know about Thanksgiving (11-27-08)
  • Claremont parents clash over kindergarten Thanksgiving costumes (11-25-08)
  • Learning more than history at Plimoth (11-24-08)
  • Truman never pardoned a turkey (11-21-07)
  • Plymouth: If not first in time, first in the country’s heart (11-20-07)
  • Godfrey Hodgson: Affectionately exploring how Thanksgiving changed through time (11-18-06)
  • ‘Desperate’ measures: History Channel reveals truth behind Pilgrims’ journey (11-18-06)
  • Feathers ruffled by book claiming to debunk 'myths' of first Thanksgiving (11-22-06)
  • Nathaniel Philbrick debunks Pilgrim myth (11-22-06)
  • Teachers emphasize the Indians' side (11-21-06)
  • Talking turkey about the REAL 1st Thanksgiving (11-19-06)
  • Then: revisiting the feasts of yore (11-19-06)
  • Thanksgiving story more myth than history (11-15-06)
  • Native Americans mourn loss of land with"Unthanksgiving" rite (11-24-05)
  • Florida experts insist first Thanksgiving here (11-24-05)

    • Commentary

  • Dean Grodzins:  On Thanksgiving Day, Remember Fast Day (11-27-14)
  • Juan Cole:  Thanksgiving was always about Climate and Adaptation: Let’s Make it Green Again  (11-29-14)
  • Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz:  The Myth of Thanksgiving (11-26-14)
  • William Loren Katz:  The Politics of Thanksgiving Day (11-15-14)
  • Larry E. Tise: Our Turkish-American Thanksgiving Bird (11-25-09)
  • Elyssa East: Thanksgiving, A Moveable Fast (11-23-09)
  • William Loren Katz: Thanksgiving mythology began with the first Thanksgiving (11-14-09)
  • Jerry Bower: Lessons From A Capitalist Thanksgiving (11-29-08)
  • Ira Stoll: Thanksgiving Actually Began at a Dark Hour During Our War for Independence (11-26-08)
  • Kenneth C. Davis: French Settlers Bested the Mayflower Pilgrims (11-26-08)
  • Larry E. Tise: Why Is Our Thanksgiving Bird Called a Turkey? (Answer: Because, Of Course, It Came from Turkey) (11-24-08)
  • Nathaniel Philbrick debunks Pilgrim myth [AUDIO] (11-24-06)
  • Robert Jensen: No Thanks to Thanksgiving (11-23-06)
  • Nathaniel Philbrick: How Dylan is a lot like Plymouth Rock (11-23-06)
  • WSJ: How the Pilgrims Made Progress (11-25-05)
  • James E. McWilliams: The Pilgrims Gave Thanks but Not for the Menu (11-24-05)
  • Melanie Kirkpatrick: The Surprising Origins of "We Gather Together," a Thanksgiving Standard (11-24-05)
  • John Tierney: That First Thanksgiving (11-24-05)
  • Jeremy Bangs: The Truth About Thanksgiving Is that the Debunkers Are Wrong (11-6-05)
  • Ralph Luker: Thanksgiving Evolved ... (11-25-04)
  • Timothy Walch: Thanksgiving Day Myths (11-25-02)
  • Rick Shenkman: Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving (11-25-02)