Shauna Wright

If you're like most Americans, your Thanksgiving dinner table will include at least a few basic items — turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and the like. But have you ever thought about why we eat those foods on Thanksgiving? Or, for that matter, why turkey is called “turkey”?

In order to answer these hard-hitting questions and maybe even give you some interesting small-talk for the table, here are the stories behind the traditional Thanksgiving foods.

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Former Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi, who’s been in hiding since August when a NATO-backed rebel force seized his headquarters in Tripoli, was killed on Thursday after rebels stormed his hometown of Sirte, where the last remnants of troops loyal to him were hiding. He was 69 years old.

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The 2009 Census reveals that while couples in western and southern states marry more often, they also divorce at a higher rate than those in other areas of the US.

Andrew Cherlin, a professor of sociology and public policy at Johns Hopkins University, said, “Surprisingly, the south and west, which we think of as more socially conservative, have higher rates of divorce than does the supposedly liberal east. The reason is that young adults in the south and west tend to have less education and marry earlier, both of which lead to a higher risk of divorce.”

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Seems every celebrity these days has a signature scent — and this September, country superstar Keith Urban will have his own, as well.

He told Women’s Wear Daily the name of the men’s fragrance, Phoenix, is an homage to the Hopi Indian thunderbird tattoo on his left forearm.

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Here’s a look at some notable birthdays being celebrated today:

Martin Sheen
Age: 71
Occupation: Actor and Activist
Known For: Roles in films such as ‘Apocalypse Now,’ his nuanced portrayal of President Bartlet on the great TV drama ‘The West Wing,’ and being the father of the downward-spiraling Charlie Sheen

Martha Stewart
Age: 70
Occupation: Entrepreneur and Media Personality
Known For: Her syndicated talk show, ‘Martha,’ her magazine, ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ and serving what many felt was an unfair prison sentence for lying to investigators about a stock sale

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Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history:

1492 – Christopher Columbus sets sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain (More info)

1900 – The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company is founded (More info)

1949 – The National Basketball Association is formed (More info)

1972 – The Un

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There’s little more frustrating than making a trek to the grocery store, only to get home and realize you forgot something important.

Mobile service provider SK Telecom hopes to change all that with a tablet PC-equipped Smart Cart that will sync items from a grocery-list smartphone app and show you exactly what you need to get. The WiFi-connected tablet even uses GPS to display product info and discounts while you shop, and makes recommendations based on past purchases.

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In a prayer before Saturday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Nashville, Tennessee, Pastor Joe Nelms name-checked several big sponsors and supporters of the sport, thanking the Almighty for things like “GM performance technology,” “Goodyear tires” — and of course his “smoking hot wife Lisa.” He wraps up the whole thing “in Jesus’ name, boogity boogity boogity, amen.”

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We all know eating too much and moving too little can add a little extra around the waist. But can your personality lead to weight gain too?

A new study published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology says it’s possible.

Three researchers from the US Department of Health and Human Services followed nearly 2,000 people over a 50-year life span and found those who were more impulsive were likely to be about 24 pounds heavier than those who weren’t. They also found that subjects who weren’t terribly friendly may experience  “a greater increase in the Body Mass Index across the adult life span.”

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Here’s a look at some interesting events that took place on this day in history:

1946 – Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team at Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey (More info)

1965 – Bob Dylan goes electric as he plugs in at the Newport Folk Festival, signaling a major change in folk and rock music (More info)

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Here’s a look at some notable birthdays being celebrated today:

Matt LeBlanc
Age: 44
Occupation: Actor
Known For: A decade playing dumb-but-sweet Joey Tribbiani on ‘Friends,’ and a current role on the Showtime series ‘Episodes’

Michael Welch
Age: 24
Occupation: Actor
Known For: Portraying Luke Girardi on the TV series ‘Joan of Arcadia’ and Mike Newton in the ‘Twilight’ film franchise

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