143 Fun Facts About Thanksgiving

At the close of America's Thanksgiving Parade, the host mayor hands Santa Claus what?

At the end of Detroit's America's Thanksgiving Parade the mayor hands Santa Claus a key to the city; the parade, founded the same year as Macy's, runs down Woodward Avenue before the city's NFL game.

Which Australian external territory celebrates Thanksgiving on the last Wednesday of November?

Norfolk Island picked up Thanksgiving from visiting American whalers in the 1890s; trader Isaac Robinson began decorating All Saints Church in Kingston for a harvest service, and the island keeps it on the last Wednesday of November.

Which tribe helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter and joined the first Thanksgiving?

The Wampanoag sachem Massasoit's 1621 treaty with Plymouth held for decades; Squanto lived with the Pilgrims as a go-between, and the tribe shared the first harvest celebration.

What ship brought the Pilgrims to America in 1620?

The Mayflower, a merchant ship of about 180 tons, left Plymouth, England, in September 1620 and anchored off Cape Cod in November with the Pilgrims aboard.

Which company built Macy's parade balloons in Akron, Ohio, from the 1920s through 1980?

Goodyear built the Macy's balloons at its Akron plant from the late 1920s until 1980, after which Macy's own parade studio took over production; puppeteer Tony Sarg designed the early animal-shaped balloons.

What creamy side dish is made by crushing boiled tubers with butter and milk?

Mashed potatoes are made by crushing boiled potatoes with butter and milk; they rank among the most popular Thanksgiving sides in the United States and are called simply mash in Britain.

What sport is traditionally watched on Thanksgiving Day in the United States?

American football owns the holiday: the NFL has played on Thanksgiving for over a century, and the 1993 Dallas-Miami game, decided when Leon Lett slid into a blocked field goal in the snow, remains one of its most replayed moments.

The mayor of which city coined the portmanteau mocking the 1939 move of Thanksgiving?

Atlantic City mayor Thomas D. Taggart Jr. coined the mocking name for Franklin Roosevelt's 1939 date change; a 1941 Commerce Department survey later found the earlier date had not lifted retail sales.

Which newspaper has printed the same two Pilgrim-themed Thanksgiving editorials every year since 1961?

The Wall Street Journal has run 'The Desolate Wilderness', drawn from Nathaniel Morton's 1669 chronicle of the Pilgrims' arrival, and Vermont Royster's 'And the Fair Land' every Thanksgiving since 1961.

What spiced custard pie is the most iconic Thanksgiving dessert?

Early colonists' pumpkin "pies" were more likely a savory soup cooked and served inside a hollowed pumpkin than a sweet custard in a crust.

What is the day after Thanksgiving commonly known as?

Black Friday's earliest known use for the day after Thanksgiving dates to 1951, describing workers calling in sick for a four-day weekend; police later used it for the traffic and crowds that clogged downtown stores.

In what present-day U.S. state did the Pilgrims land and establish Plymouth Colony?

The Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in December 1620.

What is the loose skin hanging from a turkey's neck called?

The wattle is the loose flap of skin hanging from a turkey's throat; like a chicken's comb, it flushes bright red when the bird is excited or aroused.

Since 1947, which industry group has presented the live bird for the White House Thanksgiving ceremony?

The National Turkey Federation has presented the bird since 1947, when Harry Truman received the first; the two finalists, usually Broad Breasted White toms, stay at the Willard hotel before the ceremony.

Which NFL team has hosted a game on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1945?

The Detroit Lions have hosted every Thanksgiving since 1945 after pausing for the war years; owner George A. Richards started the tradition in the 1930s to promote his newly relocated team.

Which Patuxet man, who learned English in captivity, interpreted between the Pilgrims and the local sachem's people?

Squanto (Tisquantum) had learned English after being captured and taken to Europe years earlier. He taught the Pilgrims to plant corn and catch fish.

The Godey's editor who lobbied for a national Thanksgiving wrote which nursery rhyme?

'Mary Had a Little Lamb' appeared in 1830 in the editor's Poems for Our Children; her decades of letters and editorials earned her the nickname 'Mother of Thanksgiving', and she edited Godey's Lady's Book for forty years.

In what country is Thanksgiving also celebrated, but on the second Monday of October?

Canada's Parliament fixed the second Monday in October in 1957; before that the date was set by annual proclamation.

What Thanksgiving side is cubed, seasoned bread baked inside or alongside a turkey?

Stuffing (or dressing when cooked outside the bird) is a classic Thanksgiving side dish. Recipes vary regionally, with Southern versions often using cornbread.

Which US president moved Thanksgiving a week earlier in 1939 to extend the holiday shopping season?

November 1939 had five Thursdays, and Roosevelt picked the second-to-last one to lengthen the holiday shopping season. Congress fixed the date by law in 1941.

Approximately how many turkeys were consumed in the United States on Thanksgiving Day in 2019?

Roughly 40 million turkeys were eaten on Thanksgiving Day 2019, far more than on any other day of the year.

Which Indigenous boiled-cornmeal dish had the Pilgrims adopted by the time of the first harvest feast?

Nasaump, a thick porridge of boiled cornmeal often stretched with berries or nuts, was a Wampanoag staple the colonists took up; Roger Williams recorded the word in 1643, and the English shortened it to 'samp'.

Which vegetable side dish, topped with fried onions, became a Thanksgiving staple after a Campbell's Soup Company employee created it in 1955?

Green bean casserole was invented by Dorcas Reilly at Campbell's Soup in 1955. It combines green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and crispy fried onions.

What annual event, first held in 1896, takes place on Thanksgiving morning in many American cities?

Turkey trots are fun runs or races held on Thanksgiving morning. The oldest, in Buffalo, New York, has been held since 1896 and attracts thousands of runners.

What document did the Pilgrims sign aboard ship in 1620 to establish self-governance?

The Mayflower Compact was signed on November 11, 1620 (Old Style) by 41 men while the ship lay at anchor in Provincetown Harbor; it was Plymouth Colony's first governing document.

Which state produces the most turkeys in the United States?

Minnesota leads the nation in farm-raised turkeys and also tops the country in sugar beets, sweet corn, and peas for processing.

The 1973 Peanuts Thanksgiving television special took home which honor the following year?

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving won an Emmy in 1974; the tenth prime-time Peanuts special, it first aired on CBS on November 20, 1973, two days before the holiday.

In a 1784 letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin called which bird "a Bird of bad moral Character"?

Franklin grumbled that the eagle steals fish from ospreys and called the turkey "a much more respectable Bird," but he never publicly proposed the turkey as a national symbol.

What nickname is given to the night before Thanksgiving, one of the busiest bar nights of the year?

Blackout Wednesday, also nicknamed Drinksgiving, packs bars because students and others are back in their hometowns reuniting with old friends before the family holiday.

Which NFL team, founded in 1960, began hosting an annual Thanksgiving Day game in 1966?

The Cowboys joined the holiday slate six years after their founding and, apart from 1975 and 1977, have hosted every year since.

In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, who cooks the toast-and-popcorn dinner?

Snoopy, helped by Woodstock, makes the meal after Peppermint Patty invites herself over; Charlie Brown's guests get toast, popcorn, pretzel sticks and jelly beans served on a ping-pong table in the backyard.

Which NPR host made an annual tradition of a cranberry, sour cream and horseradish relish?

The "Pepto Bismol pink" relish was invented by Craig Claiborne in 1959. Stamberg's on-air recipe became a Thanksgiving-week fixture.

What is the fleshy protuberance that hangs over a male turkey's beak called?

The snood is the fleshy flap that hangs over a male turkey's beak; it can stretch from 3 to 15 centimeters with the bird's mood and health, and hens prefer long-snooded toms.

In what year did the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade first take place?

The first parade featured live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo and ran six miles from Harlem to Herald Square.

Where did 38 English settlers hold a day of thanksgiving upon landing in Virginia on December 4, 1619?

Captain John Woodlief's 38 settlers landed at Berkeley Hundred on December 4, 1619; their charter required the arrival day be kept yearly as a day of thanksgiving, now commemorated at Berkeley Plantation.

Which sachem signed a 1621 peace treaty with the Pilgrims that lasted more than 50 years?

Massasoit (Ousamequin) led a confederacy weakened by epidemics, and the 1621 treaty held until his death in 1661. Roger Williams spent the winter of 1635-36 with him after fleeing the Bay Colony.

The 'wishbone' tradition at Thanksgiving involves breaking which bone from the turkey?

The furcula, commonly called the wishbone, is a forked bone found in birds. Two people pull it apart, and tradition says the one with the larger piece gets their wish.

What derogatory nickname was given to FDR's 1939 decision to move Thanksgiving earlier?

Critics called FDR's controversial 1939 Thanksgiving date change 'Franksgiving.' The country was split, with some states celebrating on the original date and others on the new one.

Which 1622 booklet, mostly by Edward Winslow, describes the 1621 harvest celebration now called the first Thanksgiving?

Mourt's Relation, printed in London in 1622, was rediscovered in Philadelphia in 1820; Alexander Young's 1841 reprint carried the footnote that first called the 1621 feast 'the first Thanksgiving'.

What share of the Plymouth colonists survived the harsh first winter of 1620-21?

Half the colonists died, mainly from scurvy, exposure, and contagious disease, before Native intermediaries made contact in March 1621.

In the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, what replaced the live zoo animals starting in 1927?

Inflatable characters designed by puppeteer Tony Sarg replaced the zoo animals in 1927; the first balloons were filled with air and carried along the route on poles.

Wet-harvested cranberries can be corralled into a corner of the flooded bed because ripe berries do what?

Ripe cranberries float because each berry holds four small air pockets; beds are flooded at harvest so a water reel can knock the berries loose, and again in winter for frost protection.

The Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony belonged to which religious movement?

The Pilgrims were Separatists, a subset of Puritans who believed the Church of England was beyond reform and separated from it entirely. They first fled to the Netherlands before sailing to America.

What name do many Native Americans give to Thanksgiving, observing it as a day of mourning?

Since 1970, many Native Americans have observed the National Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving. It honors Native ancestors and acknowledges the history of colonization and genocide.

What is the medical term for the "food coma" drowsiness that follows a big holiday meal?

Postprandial somnolence is the drowsiness that follows a large meal; turkey often gets the blame, but its tryptophan content is comparable to chicken and beef, and the sheer size of the meal is the real culprit.

Which president was the first to officially pardon a Thanksgiving turkey, in 1989?

George H.W. Bush formally pardoned a turkey in 1989, making it an official annual tradition. Earlier presidents received turkeys but the formal pardon ceremony began with Bush.

How long did the first Thanksgiving celebration in 1621 reportedly last?

Edward Winslow's account describes about 50 colonists and some ninety Native guests feasting over three days.

Turducken, a Louisiana dish that has become a Thanksgiving alternative, is what exactly?

It is a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey, each bird deboned before nesting with layers of stuffing between them; Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme popularized the dish in the 1980s.

Under what name did Macy's Thanksgiving morning procession first march in the 1920s?

Macy's billed its first processions as the 'Christmas Parade' because the event was created to kick off the holiday shopping season; it was later renamed for Thanksgiving Day itself.

Which Abenaki sagamore walked into Plymouth in March 1621 and greeted the colonists in English?

Samoset, a sagamore from Pemaquid in Maine, had picked up English from fishermen working off the coast; he strode into Plymouth on March 16, 1621, greeted the colonists in English, and asked for beer.

The sachem behind the 1621 Plymouth treaty mainly wanted defense against which people?

Epidemics had devastated the sachem's people while largely sparing the Narragansett. The alliance also helped Plymouth avoid starvation in its first years.

In the United States, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on which day of November?

The fourth Thursday of November has been the legal date since Congress fixed it by joint resolution, ending two years in which states split between two different Thanksgiving dates.

As of 2020, Campbell's estimated its cream-of-mushroom side dish appears at how many US Thanksgiving dinners a year?

Around 40% of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup sales go into a version of the dish, which was invented in the company's test kitchen in 1955.

In what year did Macy's switch from filling its parade balloons with air to helium so they would rise?

Macy's first filled the balloons with helium in 1928 and released them at the finale, where they burst; later versions got safety valves so they could drift for days and be returned for a reward.

Which US President first proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving under the new Constitution?

Although earlier proclamations existed, President George Washington issued the first presidential proclamation for a national Thanksgiving Day under the new U.S. Constitution in 1789.

Besides wildfowl, what meat did the ninety Native guests bring to the first harvest feast?

The guests went out and killed five deer, which they presented to the governor and others.

At what level of the sport did Thanksgiving gridiron games begin in 1876?

College football started the tradition: Yale and Princeton met on Thanksgiving Day 1876, choosing the holiday because most people were off work, decades before any professional league existed.

Which magazine editor championed the campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday?

She wrote letters to politicians for roughly 40 years before the 1863 proclamation finally made the holiday national.

A 1947 Truman voluntary rationing campaign discouraged eating which foods on Thursdays?

Truman's Citizens Food Committee urged 'Poultryless Thursdays', skipping poultry and eggs to save grain for Europe; because Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday, poultry producers lobbied until turkey was dropped from the plan.

Which turkey brand opened a telephone Turkey Talk-Line for holiday cooks in 1981?

Butterball's Turkey Talk-Line opened in November 1981 with six home economists, who answered about 11,000 calls from anxious cooks in that first season.

In a late-1939 Gallup poll, what share of Americans opposed moving Thanksgiving a week earlier?

Gallup found 62% of Americans opposed the move; Democrats narrowly favored it, 52% to 48%, while Republicans opposed it 79% to 21%.

Why did Macy's stop releasing its giant balloons into the sky at the end of the parade after 1932?

The balloons were let go to leak slowly and drift down, with a reward for whoever found them; one landed in the East River.

Which main dish is the most common alternative to turkey at Thanksgiving dinner?

Baked ham is the most common alternative or companion to turkey; surveys of Thanksgiving menus regularly rank it the second main dish, well ahead of roast beef.

Which West African country celebrates Thanksgiving on the first Thursday of November?

Liberia's legislature made the day a national holiday in 1883. The country was founded by freed American slaves, which explains the borrowed tradition.

In what year did the NFL's Motor City franchise host its first Thanksgiving game, against the Bears?

The Lions met the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving 1934, their first season in Detroit after moving from Portsmouth, Ohio; owner George A. Richards used the holiday to draw a crowd for his new team.

Cranberries were first cultivated around 1816 by Henry Hall in which Cape Cod town?

Henry Hall, a Revolutionary War veteran, noticed cranberries grew better where sand blew over them and began cultivating them in Dennis around 1816; by the 1820s he was shipping berries to New York and Boston.

Which company's theme parks hosted the White House's pardoned turkeys as parade grand marshals from 2005 to 2009?

Disney hosted the birds at Disneyland from 2005 to 2009, where they led the park's Thanksgiving parade; for the previous 15 years the turkeys had retired to Frying Pan Farm Park in Virginia.

Which president was the first on record to jokingly 'pardon' a Thanksgiving turkey, in 1987?

Reagan conjured the turkey pardon to deflect questions about whether he would pardon Oliver North. His successor made the pardon a permanent part of the ceremony.

Which shellfish is the defining ingredient of one traditional Thanksgiving bread filling for the bird?

Oysters go into one traditional Thanksgiving stuffing; bread-based mixtures are the norm, but the oyster version has deep roots in coastal New England and the Chesapeake.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was suspended for several years during which major global conflict?

The parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 due to World War II, as resources like rubber and helium were needed for the war effort.

What did 'American Cookery' (1796) first suggest serving alongside roast turkey?

Amelia Simmons's 1796 book, the first cookbook written by an American, suggests serving roast turkey with cranberry sauce, the earliest printed mention of the pairing.

Which U.S. metropolis has hosted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade since its inception?

New York has hosted it from the start; the route originally ran six miles from 145th Street in Harlem down to the flagship store at Herald Square.

In what year did the NFL add a third, prime-time Thanksgiving game with no fixed host team?

The third game arrived in 2006 on NFL Network and rotates around the league, while the two afternoon games belong to the traditional host teams.

Which sachem, known to the English as King Philip, led a 1675-76 war against the colonists?

Metacom, the second son of the sachem who had welcomed the Pilgrims, believed his brother Wamsutta had been poisoned by colonists in 1662, one grievance behind King Philip's War, among colonial America's bloodiest.

Which cartoonist created Peanuts, the comic strip behind the 1973 special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving?

Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts ran for nearly 50 years; A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving was the tenth prime-time Peanuts program.

In what year did the Continental Congress issue the first national Thanksgiving Proclamation?

A National Proclamation of Thanksgiving was issued by the Second Continental Congress in November of 1777, following colonial victories in the Battles of Saratoga.

A surplus of birds after Thanksgiving 1953 led which company to create the first TV dinner?

Swanson used flash-freezing technology developed in the 1920s to package the surplus as a pre-made Thanksgiving-style meal.

Which president first reportedly spared the turkey presented to him, saying "we'll let this one grow," in 1963?

John F. Kennedy sent the 1963 bird back to the farm with the words 'we'll let this one grow'; the tale of an earlier president sparing his son Tad's turkey surfaced in print only after that president's death.

Which orange-fleshed root gets buried under marshmallows and candied at Thanksgiving?

Sweet potatoes, despite the name, come from a morning glory vine only distantly related to the potato; the marshmallow-topped casserole traces to a 1917 Angelus Marshmallows recipe booklet.

Plymouth colonist John Howland survived the 1620 ocean crossing after what mishap during a storm?

He caught a trailing topsail halyard and was hauled back aboard. His descendants include several U.S. presidents, Alec Baldwin, and Christopher Lloyd.

What year did the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade first have a national television broadcast?

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade had its first network television broadcast in 1948.

Under what title was the 1947 film featuring the 1946 Macy's parade first released in the UK?

The Big Heart was the British release title; in the United States the studio put the film out in June 1947 and hid its Christmas theme in the marketing.

Which state is the top producer of cranberries in the United States?

Wisconsin grows roughly 60% of the U.S. cranberry crop, with Massachusetts a distant second; the 2021 national crop totaled about 790 million pounds.

Corn, beans and which other plant make up the 'three sisters' of Native American agriculture?

The 'Three Sisters' are corn, beans, and squash, which were important interdependent crops cultivated by many Native American tribes.

The NFL rebranded its Thanksgiving Day games in 2022 to honor which legendary coach and broadcaster?

In 2022, the NFL rebranded its Thanksgiving games as the 'John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration' in honor of the late coach and broadcaster.

Which character was the first-ever giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Balloons only joined the Macy's parade in 1927, and Felix the Cat had the honour of being the first.

In what year did George Washington issue his second Thanksgiving proclamation, for a Thursday in February?

The proclamation of January 1, 1795, set the observance for Thursday, February 19, a rare mid-winter Thanksgiving.

Which naturally occurring carbohydrate in cranberries makes the classic holiday condiment set into a gel?

Pectin, a carbohydrate naturally abundant in cranberries, forms a gel when heated with sugar, which is why the canned version holds its can-shaped ridges.

Before 1863, Thanksgiving was mainly a regional observance rooted in which part of the country?

Thanksgiving originated as a regional observance in colonial New England, stemming from English harvest and thanksgiving traditions.

Which Southern corn-syrup custard pie is a fixture of the Thanksgiving dessert table?

Pecan pie is a Southern specialty: a corn syrup and egg custard packed with native pecans, popularized nationally after Karo syrup began printing the recipe in the 1930s.

Thanksgiving belongs to what worldwide family of autumn celebrations?

Thanksgiving Day began as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest and of the preceding year, similar to various harvest festival holidays throughout the world.

Which city's Thanksgiving Day parade, launched in 1920, is the oldest in the United States?

Philadelphia's parade was long tied to Gimbels, a Macy's rival, until that store closed in 1986. Macy's and Detroit's parades both followed four years later.

In Hawaii, Thanksgiving ties into which traditional thanksgiving season, November to January?

Makahiki feasts featured roast pork, fish, and nuts, echoing the harvest-thanks spirit of the mainland holiday.

What leaky companion ship was meant to sail to America with the Mayflower but was abandoned in England?

Originally named Swiftsure, it twice turned back taking on water; the colony's future governor suspected the crew had sabotaged it to escape a year-long commitment.

Which hard-kernelled maize variety, often called Indian corn, is used decoratively at Thanksgiving?

Flint corn takes its name from each kernel's hard, flint-like outer shell that protects a soft endosperm; Native Americans cultivated it long before Europeans arrived.

Who was the English governor of Plymouth Colony during the 1621 harvest celebration?

William Bradford was the governor of Plymouth Colony at the time of the 1621 harvest feast.

What 1947 film helped to further popularize the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade nationwide?

The film 'Miracle on 34th Street', released in 1947, prominently featured the 1946 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, making it a household name.

What is traditional Thanksgiving gravy made from?

Gravy is traditionally made from the flavorful drippings released by the roast turkey during cooking, often thickened with flour or cornstarch.

The old English name 'fenberry' for the European cranberry refers to what kind of terrain?

Cranberries still thrive in acidic bogs across the cooler Northern Hemisphere. Commercial beds are flooded only at harvest and in winter, not year-round.

What is a baby turkey called?

A poult is a young turkey; goslings are geese, cygnets are swans, and keets are guinea fowl chicks. Adult males are toms and females are hens.

Norman Rockwell's 1943 painting of a family Thanksgiving dinner illustrates which of the Four Freedoms?

Freedom from Want shows a grandmother setting a turkey before a beaming family; Rockwell painted it in 1943 for the Saturday Evening Post using his neighbors in Arlington, Vermont as models.

Whose 18-minute talking blues 'Alice's Restaurant' became a Thanksgiving radio ritual?

Arlo Guthrie's 1967 'Alice's Restaurant Massacree' recounts his arrest for littering after a Thanksgiving 1965 dinner in Stockbridge, an episode that, in the song, gets him rejected by the draft board.

In which Dutch city did the Pilgrims live before sailing for America?

The Pilgrims lived in Leiden from 1609 to 1620, many of them working in the city's textile, printing and brewing trades.

Which children's Thanksgiving custom faded once the Macy's parade caught on?

On Ragamuffin Day, New York children in costume went door to door asking 'Anything for Thanksgiving?', a begging custom adults tired of; it faded as the Macy's parade grew in the 1930s.

The Mayflower's patent covered land near which river, far south of where it landed?

The Mayflower aimed for the mouth of the Hudson River, then inside the Virginia Company's northern grant, but dangerous shoals off Cape Cod turned it back to Provincetown Harbor in November 1620.

In which century did two people first start pulling a bird's forked bone to make a wish?

In some households the person left holding the smaller piece was the one who got the wish.

What does the cornucopia, often seen as a Thanksgiving decoration, traditionally symbolize?

The cornucopia, also known as the 'horn of plenty,' is derived from classical Greek and Roman mythology and represents abundance, wealth, and prosperity.

Which growers' cooperative, founded in 1930, dominates U.S. cranberry juice and sauce sales?

Ocean Spray was formed in 1930 by three cranberry growers and is owned by its farmers; its jellied sauce famously slides from the can with the ridges intact.

Which Korean harvest holiday, often called Korean Thanksgiving, falls on the eighth lunar month's full moon?

Chuseok, on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, sends Koreans home to tend ancestral graves and share songpyeon, half-moon rice cakes.

In Planes, Trains and Automobiles, which actor plays shower-curtain-ring salesman Del Griffith?

John Candy plays Del Griffith, the shower-curtain-ring salesman stuck with Steve Martin's Neal Page as both struggle to get home for Thanksgiving in John Hughes's 1987 comedy.

The tribal name Wampanoag is usually translated as 'People of the' what?

Wampanoag is usually rendered 'People of the First Light' or 'Easterners', fitting a nation whose homeland on Cape Cod and the islands faces the Atlantic sunrise.

Which accessory shown on Pilgrim hats and shoes did the Plymouth colonists not actually wear?

Buckles only became fashionable late in the 17th century; Plymouth colonists tied their shoes and hats with laces and wore russet, green and blue clothing, not just black and white.

Who was the master, or captain, of the Mayflower on its 1620 voyage?

Christopher Jones, part-owner and master of the Mayflower, kept the ship at Plymouth through the colonists' first winter and sailed home in April 1621; he died the following year.

Which comedian debuted 'The Thanksgiving Song' on Saturday Night Live in 1992?

Adam Sandler first performed 'The Thanksgiving Song' on SNL's Weekend Update in November 1992, a goofy guitar ode in which he eats his turkey and takes a nap.

What are the heart, liver, gizzard and neck packed inside a store-bought turkey called?

Giblets are the heart, liver, gizzard and neck usually bagged inside the bird's cavity; cooks simmer them for stock and giblet gravy.

Which professional soldier, hired by the Pilgrims, commanded Plymouth Colony's defenses?

Myles Standish, a veteran of the Dutch wars, was hired in Leiden as the colony's military captain and led its armed parties, though he never joined the Pilgrims' church.

What is the casual American nickname for Thanksgiving, after its main dish?

Turkey Day is the everyday nickname for Thanksgiving, after the bird that the National Turkey Federation says appears on nearly nine in ten American holiday tables.

Which Roman goddess of luck was often shown holding a cornucopia?

Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck, was shown with a cornucopia and a rudder or wheel, since she could steer prosperity toward or away from anyone.

Which president refused to proclaim days of thanksgiving, citing the separation of church and state?

Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1808 that religious exercises were no business of the federal government and issued no thanksgiving proclamations; James Madison later proclaimed several during the War of 1812.

Most canned pumpkin in the U.S. comes from a Libby's plant in which Illinois town?

Libby's plant in Morton, Illinois, cans about 85% of America's pumpkin, using the tan, sweet Dickinson squash rather than the orange jack-o'-lantern variety.

Who was the first English child born in New England, aboard the Mayflower in 1620?

Peregrine White was born aboard the Mayflower in Provincetown Harbor in late November 1620, the first English child born in New England; Oceanus Hopkins had been born at sea during the crossing.

The name 'wishbone' for the bone people snap is first recorded in which year?

'Wishbone' is first recorded in 1860 as an Americanism; before that the bone went by the English name merrythought.

Which sitcom's Thanksgiving episodes include Monica wearing a raw turkey on her head?

Friends aired a Thanksgiving episode almost every season; in 1998's 'The One with All the Thanksgivings', Monica dons a raw turkey, sunglasses and a fez to make Chandler laugh.

What is the Monday after Thanksgiving called, for its online shopping deals?

Cyber Monday was coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation's Shop.org after it noticed online sales spiking the Monday after Thanksgiving, as workers shopped from office computers.

In 1997, high winds pushed which balloon into a lamppost, badly injuring a spectator?

The Cat in the Hat balloon struck a lamppost near Central Park West in 1997, and falling debris left spectator Kathleen Caronna in a coma; the city then set wind limits for flying balloons.

In the 1978 sitcom episode 'Turkeys Away', which radio station dropped live turkeys from a helicopter?

WKRP in Cincinnati's 'Turkeys Away' ends with newsman Les Nessman describing turkeys hitting the ground 'like sacks of wet cement' and manager Arthur Carlson's line, 'As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.'

Roughly how long did the Mayflower's Atlantic crossing take?

The crossing took about 66 days, roughly ten weeks, from Plymouth, England, to Cape Cod; storms cracked a main beam that a metal jackscrew, brought for house-building, forced back into place.

Which 1986 Woody Allen film is framed by three consecutive Thanksgiving dinners?

Hannah and Her Sisters opens and closes at family Thanksgiving parties two years apart; Dianne Wiest and Michael Caine both won supporting-actor Oscars for it.

Turkey tetrazzini, a leftover classic, is named after a star of which art form?

Turkey tetrazzini honors Italian soprano Luisa Tetrazzini, an opera sensation in San Francisco around 1910; the creamy pasta bake named for her became a standard use for leftover turkey.

In what year did the NFL, then called the APFA, play its first Thanksgiving Day games?

The APFA, renamed the NFL in 1922, scheduled Thanksgiving games in its first season, 1920, copying college football, which had played holiday games since the 1870s.

What is the tuft of bristle-like feathers on a male turkey's chest called?

The beard is a cluster of stiff, hair-like feathers hanging from a tom's chest that grows longer with age; hunters measure it to gauge a bird's maturity.

The only other turkey species, the ocellated turkey, lives on which peninsula?

The ocellated turkey, with peacock-like eyespots on its tail, lives only on the Yucatán Peninsula across southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.

Long before it meant shopping, the same Friday nickname described an 1869 panic in which market?

The original Black Friday was September 24, 1869, when the gold price collapsed after Jay Gould and James Fisk's attempt to corner the market, aided by President Grant's brother-in-law, fell apart.

Which prize did John Madden begin handing out to the holiday game's best player in 1989?

Madden's Turkey Leg Award, first handed out in 1989, went to the game's standout, who gnawed a real roasted leg on air; it later grew into a six-legged turkey for multiple winners.

Which actress directed the 1995 Thanksgiving family comedy Home for the Holidays?

Jodie Foster directed Home for the Holidays (1995), in which Holly Hunter flies home to Baltimore for a chaotic family Thanksgiving, with Robert Downey Jr. as her brother.

How many passengers did the Mayflower carry across the Atlantic in 1620?

A crew of about 30 sailed with them on a ship roughly 110 feet long.

To what internal temperature, in Fahrenheit, does the USDA say turkey must be cooked?

The USDA's safe minimum for all poultry is 165°F (74°C), checked with a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, wing and breast.

Which Caribbean nation celebrates Thanksgiving on the first Monday in October?

Saint Lucia keeps Thanksgiving Day as a public holiday on the first Monday in October; the island, a former British colony, became independent in 1979.

Grenada's Thanksgiving Day on October 25 marks the anniversary of what?

The 1983 US-led invasion, Operation Urgent Fury, began on October 25 after Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was deposed and executed by a military faction of his own party; Grenada keeps the date as Thanksgiving Day.

Japan's Labor Thanksgiving Day, rooted in the Shinto harvest rite Niiname-sai, falls on which date?

Kinro Kansha no Hi falls on November 23, the date of the imperial Niiname-sai rice-offering rite; Japan's 1948 holiday law recast it as a day honoring labor and production.

A yearly Thanksgiving service is held in which Leiden church, where Pilgrim pastor John Robinson lies?

The Pieterskerk, a 15th-century Gothic church in Leiden, holds a Thanksgiving Day service each year; the Pilgrims' pastor John Robinson, who stayed behind, was buried there in 1625.

Whose 1578 voyage do some historians count as North America's first Thanksgiving?

Martin Frobisher's crew held a service of thanks in 1578 at Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island after surviving the crossing; he was searching for the Northwest Passage.

The turkey's genus name, Meleagris, was the Greek word for which other bird?

Meleagris was the Greek name for the guinea fowl; Linnaeus applied it to the turkey in 1758 because Europeans had long confused the two exotic imports.