Ah, Thanksgiving. That wonderful day when you really believe that you are reliving that first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims. That day when you invite your family to eat store-bought turkey and canned cranberry sauce. That day when your cooking is on display for the whole family — and you cook something you are not that familiar with.

A few of you may have eaten a wild turkey yesterday. It is more likely that you ate one of the 46 million commercially raised birds that gave their lives for the celebration. Chances are that you may have even tried to impress your family with some of your vast knowledge of turkeys, knowledge that has been repeated so often it is readily accepted as fact.

Brace yourself. Here are the facts:

Benjamin Franklin never sought to have the wild turkey replace the bald eagle as America’s official bird representative.

That belief likely stems from a letter he wrote to his daughter where he explained his dislike of the bald eagle as America’s choice.