15. The First Thanksgiving
via GIPHY
A lot of Americans believe the first Thanksgiving was this feel-good celebratory occasion held in 1621 to hold a feast in honour of a partnership between the Pilgrims and Native Americans.
In actuality, the Pilgrims resented the Native Americans considering them to be uncivilized heathens.
In 1637, in retaliation for the murder of a man the settlers believed the Wampanoags tribe killed, they burned a nearby village, killing as many as 500 men , women and children. Following the massacre William Bradford, the Governor of Plymouth, wrote that for “the next 100 years, every Thanksgiving Day ordained by a Governor was in honor of the bloody victory, thanking God that the battle had been won.”
> In a lot of countries, especially in the Middle East, Latin America, Western Africa, Russia and Greece, a thumbs up basically has the same meaning as holding up a middle finger does for Americans.
In Russia, a thumbs up basically has the same meaning as it does in the US (as well as holding up a middle finger).