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143 free Thanksgiving trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
144 free Thanksgiving trivia questions with answers. Think you know everything about Thanksgiving? From the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag peoples 1621 harvest feast to the presidential turkey pardon and the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, this holiday is packed with fascinating history and traditions. Put your knowledge to the test with 143 questions covering Thanksgiving history, food, culture, sports, and surprising facts that might just stump even the biggest trivia buffs.
30 of 143 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01At the close of America's Thanksgiving Parade, the host mayor hands Santa Claus what?
A key to the city
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.
Q 02Which Australian external territory celebrates Thanksgiving on the last Wednesday of November?
Norfolk Island
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.
Q 03Which tribe helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter and joined the first Thanksgiving?
Wampanoag
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.
Q 04What ship brought the Pilgrims to America in 1620?
Mayflower
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.
Q 05Which company built Macy's parade balloons in Akron, Ohio, from the 1920s through 1980?
Goodyear
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.
Q 06What creamy side dish is made by crushing boiled tubers with butter and milk?
Mashed potatoes
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.
Q 07What sport is traditionally watched on Thanksgiving Day in the United States?
American football
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.
Q 08The mayor of which city coined the portmanteau mocking the 1939 move of Thanksgiving?
Atlantic City
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.
Q 09Which newspaper has printed the same two Pilgrim-themed Thanksgiving editorials every year since 1961?
The Wall Street Journal
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.
Q 10What spiced custard pie is the most iconic Thanksgiving dessert?
Pumpkin pie
Early colonists' pumpkin "pies" were more likely a savory soup cooked and served inside a hollowed pumpkin than a sweet custard in a crust.
Q 11What is the day after Thanksgiving commonly known as?
Black Friday
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.
Q 12In what present-day U.S. state did the Pilgrims land and establish Plymouth Colony?
Massachusetts
The Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in December 1620.
Q 13What is the loose skin hanging from a turkey's neck called?
Wattle
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.
Q 21Approximately how many turkeys were consumed in the United States on Thanksgiving Day in 2019?
40 million
Roughly 40 million turkeys were eaten on Thanksgiving Day 2019, far more than on any other day of the year.
Q 22Which Indigenous boiled-cornmeal dish had the Pilgrims adopted by the time of the first harvest feast?
Nasaump
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'.
Q 23Which 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
Q 14Since 1947, which industry group has presented the live bird for the White House Thanksgiving ceremony?
National Turkey Federation
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.
Q 15Which NFL team has hosted a game on Thanksgiving Day every year since 1945?
Detroit Lions
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.
Q 16Which Patuxet man, who learned English in captivity, interpreted between the Pilgrims and the local sachem's people?
Squanto
Squanto (Tisquantum) had learned English after being captured and taken to Europe years earlier. He taught the Pilgrims to plant corn and catch fish.
Q 17The Godey's editor who lobbied for a national Thanksgiving wrote which nursery rhyme?
Mary Had a Little Lamb
'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.
Q 18In what country is Thanksgiving also celebrated, but on the second Monday of October?
Canada
Canada's Parliament fixed the second Monday in October in 1957; before that the date was set by annual proclamation.
Q 19What Thanksgiving side is cubed, seasoned bread baked inside or alongside a turkey?
Stuffing (dressing)
Stuffing (or dressing when cooked outside the bird) is a classic Thanksgiving side dish. Recipes vary regionally, with Southern versions often using cornbread.
Q 20Which US president moved Thanksgiving a week earlier in 1939 to extend the holiday shopping season?
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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.
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.
Q 24What annual event, first held in 1896, takes place on Thanksgiving morning in many American cities?
Turkey trot (fun run)
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.
Q 25What document did the Pilgrims sign aboard ship in 1620 to establish self-governance?
Mayflower Compact
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.
Q 26Which state produces the most turkeys in the United States?
Minnesota
Minnesota leads the nation in farm-raised turkeys and also tops the country in sugar beets, sweet corn, and peas for processing.
Q 27The 1973 Peanuts Thanksgiving television special took home which honor the following year?
An Emmy
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.
Q 28In a 1784 letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin called which bird "a Bird of bad moral Character"?
Bald eagle
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.
Q 29What nickname is given to the night before Thanksgiving, one of the busiest bar nights of the year?
Blackout Wednesday
Blackout Wednesday, also nicknamed Drinksgiving, packs bars because students and others are back in their hometowns reuniting with old friends before the family holiday.
Q 30Which NFL team, founded in 1960, began hosting an annual Thanksgiving Day game in 1966?
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys joined the holiday slate six years after their founding and, apart from 1975 and 1977, have hosted every year since.