Coming off of a weekend full of college football games, stadium food, parking lot cookouts, and team spirit, there is no more perfect day to celebrate than National Tailgating day.

Interestingly enough, the first recorded tailgate is rumored to have been way back in 1861, and it was a far cry from the backyard barbeques the word “tailgating” calls to mind today. During the Civil War, it was a common (and disturbing, I might add) practice to set up camp on top of a hill and watch the battles from below (they didn’t have Kardashians to keep them occupied back then).

The first instance of this was said to be at the infamous Battle of Bull Run (the battle that made Confederate General Stonewall Jackson famous), when spectators showed up with picnic baskets and claret to watch the Union and Confederate armies face off.

Over the years, though rifles were eventually exchanged for shoulder pads and bottles of claret for quarter pounders, the homegrown all-American sentiment remains the same. Now get out there and show some team spirit!