Tidbits, Nov. 22

Happy Thanksgiving! We noticed a trend going around Facebook this month wherein people are listing every day the things they're thankful for. A welcome change from all the heated political postings that preceded the election! What do you have to be grateful for?

Hunters are donning their bright orange and camouflage to bring home meat to their families and maybe get a trophy out of the deal, too. The National Wild Turkey Federation shared some fun facts about the birds you may eat this Thanksgiving, courtesy of your hunting friend or family member:

"The domestic, farm-raised turkey most Americans eat on Thanksgiving Day is nothing like the wild turkey feasted on by the Pilgrims and Native Americans.

• Wild turkeys, now almost 7 million strong, were almost extinct in the early 1900s.

• Wild turkeys can run up to 25 mph. Usain Bolt, the world's fastest-known human, averaged 23.35 mph during his world-record, 100 meters.

• Wild turkeys were argued by Benjamin Franklin to be a more appropriate choice than bald eagles as our national bird.

• Wild turkeys, which have as many as 6,000 feathers, can fly as fast as 55 mph. Most domestic turkeys are too heavy to fly.

• Wild turkeys have much sharper vision than humans and can view their entire surroundings simply by turning their head.

• Wild turkeys can make at least 28 different vocalizations, with gobbles heard up to one mile away.

• Wild turkeys roost (sleep) in trees, often as high as 50 feet off the ground."

The Legion is thankful

Zearl Wilson and the American Legion would sincerely like to thank Cass Gebbers, Jon Wyss and their crew for the firewood they donate and deliver to the American Legion.

This day in history - Nov. 22

1497: Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama became the first navigator to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in his search for a sea route to India.

1699: A treaty was signed by Denmark, Russia, Saxony and Poland for the partitioning of the Swedish Empire.

1718: English pirate Edward Teach (a.k.a. "Blackbeard") was killed during a battle off the coast of North Carolina. British soldiers cornered him aboard his ship and killed him.

1783: John Hanson, the first president of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation, died. Hanson is sometimes called the first president of the United States, but this is a misnomer, since the presidency did not exist as an executive position separate from Congress until the Constitution created the role upon its ratification in 1789.

1842: Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted. Ash fallout reached as far as 48 miles away.

1906: The International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin adopted the SOS distress signal.

1935: The first trans-Pacific airmail flight began in Alameda, Calif., when the flying boat known as the China Clipper left for Manila. The craft was carrying over 110,000 pieces of mail.

1942: During World War II, the Battle of Stalingrad began.

1943: U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss the measures for defeating Japan.

1963: U.S. President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. Texas Gov. John B. Connally was also seriously wounded. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was inaugurated as the 36th president.

1972: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon lifted a ban on American travel to Cuba. The ban had been put in place on Feb. 8, 1963.

1985: 38,648 immigrants became citizens of the United States. It was the largest swearing-in ceremony.

1990: Margaret Thatcher announced her resignation as prime minister of the United Kingdom.

1998: CBS's "60 Minutes" aired a tape of Jack Kevorkian giving lethal drugs in an assisted suicide of a terminally ill patient. Kevorkian was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder.

2005: Microsoft's XBox 360 video game console went on sale.