5 Fun Facts About the , Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.<br />1, The parade was originally <br />held during Christmas.<br />Employees organized the parade <br />in 1924 to celebrate becoming <br />the "world's largest store.".<br />Three years later, it was <br />held during Thanksgiving.<br />2, They used to let the <br />balloons float away.<br />Those who found released balloons <br />got a gift certificate from Macy's.<br />3, The parade was originally broadcast on the radio.<br />The first radio broadcast of the <br />parade was in 1932. The celebration was <br />not broadcast on television until 1946.<br />4. , The parade route hasn't <br />always been the same.<br />The route was first changed in 2009 <br />due to new pedestrian plazas. It has <br />changed a few more times since then.<br />5. , The parade hasn't always <br />gone off without a hitch.<br />The worst incident was possibly <br />in 1997, when winds reached speeds <br />of more than 40 miles per hour.<br />Four people were injured by rogue balloons, leaving one woman in a coma for a month.<br />The balloon was caught on top of me and my daughter. We thought it was going <br />to smother us, Joyce Reis, via 'The New York Times'
