11 things you may not have known about Thanksgiving

We all know that the first Thanksgiving dinner took place when the Pilgrims celebrated a good harvest in the New World, and that the tryptophan in turkey isn't actually what makes you so sleepy.

But did you know that there was a crisis in the late 1930s called "Franksgiving?"

We rounded up 11 of the best facts about Thanksgiving, which might come in handy during those awkward silences at the family dinner table.

Asta Thrastardottir contributed reporting on an earlier version of this article.