Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers
60 questions for the table after dinner, in seven rounds: history, food, football and the parade, movies and TV, Thanksgiving around the world, an easy round for kids and a harder one for adults. Tap Answer under a question to see it, or print the quiz with the answers on a page of their own.
Keep score for the quiz on your iPhone or iPad, team by team. Tallynight is free, with no ads.
Get TallynightHow to play Thanksgiving trivia as a team game
Split into teams of two to six, and mix the ages so the kids and the grandparents play together. One person hosts. They read each question aloud twice, and each team agrees on an answer and writes it down.
Each right answer scores 1 point. After each round, teams swap answer sheets and mark each other's while the host reads the answers out. For a bonus round, make the harder round worth 2 points a question, or give each team a joker to double the round it feels best about.
Keep score in Tallynight on an iPhone or iPad, on the free online score keeper, or on the printed team score sheet. The trivia night guide has more on rounds, jokers and tie-breakers.
Thanksgiving history
From Plymouth and the Wampanoag to the presidents who made it a national holiday. The 1621 questions follow Edward Winslow's letter, one of only two accounts written by people who were there.
In what year did the Pilgrims land at Cape Cod? A) 1492 B) 1620 C) 1776
Answer
B) 1620, in November.
About how many passengers sailed on the Mayflower? A) 30 B) 100 C) 500
Answer
B) About 100. The usual count is 102.
The Plymouth colonists built their town where a Wampanoag village had stood. What was it called?
Answer
Patuxet. Most of its people had died in an epidemic a few years before the colonists came.
Which Patuxet man, who had learned English after being taken to Europe, helped the Plymouth colonists as an interpreter and guide?
Answer
Tisquantum, often called Squanto.
In March 1621, the Wampanoag leader Massasoit and the Plymouth colonists agreed to what? A) a fur trade B) an alliance to help each other if attacked C) a shared town
Answer
B) An alliance. Each side promised to help the other if it was attacked.
About how many Wampanoag men came with Massasoit to the 1621 harvest celebration, according to Edward Winslow? A) 20 B) 50 C) 90
Answer
C) About 90.
How many days did the 1621 harvest celebration last, according to Winslow?
Answer
Three days.
Which president proclaimed the first national day of thanksgiving under the Constitution, in 1789?
Answer
George Washington, for Thursday 26 November 1789. Thanksgiving 2026 falls on 26 November too.
In 1863, during the Civil War, which president proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November?
Answer
Abraham Lincoln.
Since a law of 1941, Thanksgiving falls on which Thursday of November? A) the third B) the fourth C) the last
Answer
B) The fourth.
Thanksgiving food
The turkey, the sides and the pie, and what Winslow says was eaten in 1621.
Before the 1621 celebration, the governor sent four men out fowling. What were they hunting?
Answer
Wild birds. Winslow writes that in one day they shot enough to feed the colony for almost a week, but not which birds.
What did Massasoit's men bring to the 1621 celebration, according to Winslow? A) five deer B) ten turkeys C) a basket of corn
Answer
A) Five deer.
Which Thanksgiving side was created in Campbell's test kitchen in 1955, by Dorcas Reilly?
Answer
Green bean casserole.
Cranberries grow in bogs. Which state grows more than half of the US crop? A) Maine B) Wisconsin C) Florida
Answer
B) Wisconsin.
Which state raises the most turkeys? A) Texas B) Minnesota C) Georgia
Answer
B) Minnesota, about 39 million in 2023.
Which state grows the most pumpkins, many of them for canned pumpkin? A) Illinois B) Vermont C) Arizona
Answer
A) Illinois.
Which nut is native to North America? A) pecan B) almond C) cashew
Answer
A) The pecan, as in pecan pie.
What is inside a turducken?
Answer
A deboned chicken, inside a deboned duck, inside a deboned turkey.
What is the fleshy flap that hangs over a turkey's beak called? A) the wattle B) the snood C) the comb
Answer
B) The snood. The wattle hangs under the chin.
Football and the parade
The games on TV in the afternoon, and the parade in New York in the morning.
Which two NFL teams host a game every Thanksgiving?
Answer
The Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.
In what year did the Detroit Lions play their first Thanksgiving game? A) 1934 B) 1954 C) 1974
Answer
A) 1934, against the Chicago Bears.
In what year did the Dallas Cowboys first host a Thanksgiving game? A) 1946 B) 1966 C) 1986
Answer
B) 1966. They beat the Cleveland Browns.
How many NFL games are played on Thanksgiving Day? A) one B) two C) three
Answer
C) Three, since a night game was added in 2006.
In what year did the first Macy's parade march in New York? A) 1924 B) 1939 C) 1952
Answer
A) 1924.
The first Macy's parade had live animals instead of balloons. Where were they borrowed from?
Answer
The Central Park Zoo.
Which cartoon cat was among the parade's first giant balloons, in 1927?
Answer
Felix the Cat.
Why was the Macy's parade not held from 1942 to 1944?
Answer
World War II. The rubber and helium for the balloons went to the war effort.
The parade ends outside Macy's flagship store, on which New York street?
Answer
34th Street, at Herald Square.
Movies and TV
Films and episodes set at Thanksgiving.
In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973), who invites herself, and then her friends, to Charlie Brown's for dinner?
Answer
Peppermint Patty.
In Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), which city is Neal Page trying to get home to for Thanksgiving?
Answer
Chicago, from New York.
Which 1947 film opens at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where Kris Kringle takes the place of the parade's Santa?
Answer
Miracle on 34th Street.
In a 1978 episode of WKRP in Cincinnati, what does the radio station drop from a helicopter as a Thanksgiving promotion?
Answer
Live turkeys.
In Friends, who dances with a turkey on her head to cheer up Chandler?
Answer
Monica, in The One with All the Thanksgivings (1998).
Which 2013 animated film follows two turkeys who travel back in time to take turkey off the Thanksgiving menu?
Answer
Free Birds.
Thanksgiving around the world
Thanksgiving days and harvest festivals in other countries.
When does Canada celebrate Thanksgiving? A) the second Monday of October B) the fourth Thursday of November C) 1 November
Answer
A) The second Monday of October.
Japan's Labour Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday, falls on which date?
Answer
23 November.
Which West African country celebrates Thanksgiving on the first Thursday of November? A) Ghana B) Liberia C) Senegal
Answer
B) Liberia, by a law of 1883.
Which Korean harvest festival, at the full moon of the eighth lunar month, is often called Korean Thanksgiving?
Answer
Chuseok.
At China's Mid-Autumn Festival, families share which round pastries?
Answer
Mooncakes.
During which Jewish harvest festival do families eat their meals in a hut called a sukkah?
Answer
Sukkot.
An easy round for kids
Ten easy questions, several with three choices to pick from. Let the youngest at the table answer first.
Which bird is the star of most Thanksgiving dinners?
Answer
The turkey.
What sound does a male turkey make? A) moo B) gobble C) quack
Answer
B) Gobble.
What is a baby turkey called? A) a poult B) a calf C) a cub
Answer
A) A poult.
Can wild turkeys fly?
Answer
Yes. They fly in short bursts, and they sleep up in trees at night.
Which orange pie do many families eat at Thanksgiving?
Answer
Pumpkin pie.
What colour are ripe cranberries?
Answer
Red.
On which day of the week is Thanksgiving in the US?
Answer
Thursday.
Who rides in at the very end of the Macy's parade?
Answer
Santa Claus.
Which bone do two people pull apart to make a wish?
Answer
The wishbone.
How many points is a touchdown worth in American football? A) 3 B) 6 C) 10
Answer
B) 6.
A harder round for adults
Ten harder questions for the grown-ups. Play it as a bonus round, worth 2 points a question.
Edward Winslow's account of the 1621 celebration was printed in London in 1622, in which book?
Answer
Mourt's Relation.
Massasoit is a title, meaning great sachem, or leader. What was the name of the Massasoit who came to the 1621 celebration?
Answer
Ousamequin.
The name Wampanoag is often translated as what? A) People of the First Light B) People of the River C) People of the Forest
Answer
A) People of the First Light.
Name one of the two federally recognised Wampanoag tribes in Massachusetts today.
Answer
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, or the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).
Who was governor of Plymouth Colony at the time of the 1621 harvest celebration?
Answer
William Bradford. He took over after John Carver died in the spring of 1621.
Which magazine editor wrote to presidents for years, asking for a national Thanksgiving Day, until one was proclaimed in 1863?
Answer
Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book.
In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving a week earlier, to give shops a longer Christmas season. What did people call it?
Answer
Franksgiving.
In a 1784 letter to his daughter, which founding father called the turkey a much more respectable bird than the bald eagle?
Answer
Benjamin Franklin. He never formally proposed it as the national bird.
In Lydia Maria Child's Thanksgiving poem, now a song, the sleigh goes over the river and through the wood to whose house?
Answer
Grandfather's house. Many people now sing grandmother's.
What is the earliest date Thanksgiving can fall in the US? A) 21 November B) 22 November C) 23 November
Answer
B) 22 November. The latest is 28 November.
Tie-breaker
If teams are tied for first, each writes down a number. The closest answer wins, over or under.
In what year did Canada fix the date of its Thanksgiving, as it's kept today?
Answer
1957.
More games for Thanksgiving
When the quiz is done, keep the table going. Our Thanksgiving games has games for the dinner table, cards after dinner and teams for a big family.
Answers
- B) 1620, in November.
- B) About 100. The usual count is 102.
- Patuxet. Most of its people had died in an epidemic a few years before the colonists came.
- Tisquantum, often called Squanto.
- B) An alliance. Each side promised to help the other if it was attacked.
- C) About 90.
- Three days.
- George Washington, for Thursday 26 November 1789. Thanksgiving 2026 falls on 26 November too.
- Abraham Lincoln.
- B) The fourth.
- Wild birds. Winslow writes that in one day they shot enough to feed the colony for almost a week, but not which birds.
- A) Five deer.
- Green bean casserole.
- B) Wisconsin.
- B) Minnesota, about 39 million in 2023.
- A) Illinois.
- A) The pecan, as in pecan pie.
- A deboned chicken, inside a deboned duck, inside a deboned turkey.
- B) The snood. The wattle hangs under the chin.
- The Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.
- A) 1934, against the Chicago Bears.
- B) 1966. They beat the Cleveland Browns.
- C) Three, since a night game was added in 2006.
- A) 1924.
- The Central Park Zoo.
- Felix the Cat.
- World War II. The rubber and helium for the balloons went to the war effort.
- 34th Street, at Herald Square.
- Peppermint Patty.
- Chicago, from New York.
- Miracle on 34th Street.
- Live turkeys.
- Monica, in The One with All the Thanksgivings (1998).
- Free Birds.
- A) The second Monday of October.
- 23 November.
- B) Liberia, by a law of 1883.
- Chuseok.
- Mooncakes.
- Sukkot.
- The turkey.
- B) Gobble.
- A) A poult.
- Yes. They fly in short bursts, and they sleep up in trees at night.
- Pumpkin pie.
- Red.
- Thursday.
- Santa Claus.
- The wishbone.
- B) 6.
- Mourt's Relation.
- Ousamequin.
- A) People of the First Light.
- The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, or the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).
- William Bradford. He took over after John Carver died in the spring of 1621.
- Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book.
- Franksgiving.
- Benjamin Franklin. He never formally proposed it as the national bird.
- Grandfather's house. Many people now sing grandmother's.
- B) 22 November. The latest is 28 November.
- 1957.
Keep score for the quiz in Tallynight
Choose Something else, then Rounds, and under Who wins pick Highest. Add each team as a player, then tap Start game.
After each round, type every team's score on one keypad, with any joker already doubled. The table keeps the totals and who's in front, and you can tap any round to fix a marking mistake.
- Every team's round on one keypad
- Running totals and who's in front
- Tap any round to fix a marking mistake
- A winner card for the family chat
Questions
How many questions do you need for Thanksgiving trivia?
For a family game after dinner, three or four rounds of 10 is plenty. This page has 60 questions in seven rounds, so pick the rounds that suit your table.
Is there a printable version?
Yes. Tap Print the questions and answers below the last round. The questions print first and the answers come on a separate page, so the host can keep them out of sight. Most browsers can save it as a PDF from the same window.
Is there Thanksgiving trivia for kids?
Yes. The easy round for kids has 10 questions about turkeys, pie, the parade and football, several with three choices. Put a child on each team, or let the kids play that round on their own.
Is there Thanksgiving trivia for adults?
The harder round for adults covers the Wampanoag, Plymouth Colony and how the date was set. Play it as a bonus round worth 2 points a question.
How do you keep score in trivia?
One point for each right answer. Teams write their answers down and hand them in after each round, and the host reads out the answers and the scores. Keep them in Tallynight, on the online score keeper or on a printed score sheet. The trivia night guide covers half points, jokers and tie-breakers.
Where do the answers come from?
Each answer was checked against museum, archive and official sources, among them Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plimoth Patuxet Museums, the National Park Service and the Smithsonian. The 1621 questions follow Edward Winslow's letter, one of only two accounts by people who were there.