5 interesting facts about Thanksgiving that you may not have known!

The American Thanksgiving feast is one of the world's most iconic holidays, but there is a lot most people don't know about it!  Here are 5 things that you may or may not have known about Thanksgiving and its origin in America!

1.)  Of the Mayflower's original 102 passengers, only 40 of them were "Pilgrims" as we would recognize them.  The rest were called the "Strangers", men and women just looking to hitch a ride to the new world.  In fact, the Mayflower wasn't even originally intended to be a human transport vessel; it was supposed to be a wine transport.

2.)  Despite Macy’s being the largest, the oldest Thanksgiving parade was held in Philadelphia in 1920 by Gimbels department store. The parade was very small, with only about 50 people.

3.)  The Pilgrims didn't actually dress in full-black attire with metal buckles on their hats and shoes.  In reality, metal buckles would've been too expensive for the incredibly destitute Pilgrims.  It is more likely that they would've used leather laces and straps instead of the buckles.

4.)  Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird, feeling that the eagle was a creature predisposed to "bad moral character".  He wanted to instead pay homage to the bird that had more historical significance to the young country.

5.)  When George Washington advocated for a national Thanksgiving celebration, a number of other founding fathers and statesmen were supportive of the measure. Thomas Jefferson was not one of them. Jefferson referred to the idea as “the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard."  Guess he wasn't a fan of cranberry sauce!

From One Second To The Next A Film By Werner Herzog

Shows the Consequences of Texting While Driving

This past August, legendary filmmaker and historian Werner Herzog released "From One Second to the Next", a short, but poignant look into the consequences of texting while driving.

The film is a PSA sponsored by four major phone companies-- AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, who originally approached Herzog to make the film in an effort to combat a growing cultural phenomenon where texting-related accidents are becoming increasingly all too common.

For Herzog, it's a sharp turn outside the norm from his usual works, which often focus on themes of isolation and wilderness, as can be seen in films like "Grizzly Man" and "Encounters At the End of the World". Nonetheless, "From One Second to the Next" is as much an accomplishment in cinema as it is an important message that should be adopted by anyone who gets behind a wheel.

Watch "From One Second to the Next" here