50 Thanksgiving Trivia Questions to Put Your Holiday IQ to the Test

Something about November is equally as festive as it is divisive. The first day of the month splits Americans into two groups: those who immediately turn their attention to Thanksgiving, football, family 5Ks, and food, and those who blast Christmas music while sipping sugar-cookie lattes, purposefully ignoring everyone who tells them their cheer is premature. If you fall into the first category and firmly believe Thanksgiving deserves its own moment before Christmas can be properly celebrated, you probably know more about the holiday than most people do.In elementary school, we learned about the first Thanksgiving: the Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower and the Wampanoag tribe, uniting for a three-day feast to celebrate peace and an abundant harvest. You might also remember coloring turkeys and watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Those were the days. As the years went by, you discovered the deliciousness of Thanksgiving foods: turkey, stuffing, casseroles, and pumpkin and pecan pie. Later came the magic of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, fun family time, and other traditions of thanks. You might’ve even picked up a few historical facts along the way, like the president who set the date and the name of the shopping holiday that precedes it. Put your Thanksgiving knowledge to the test and get ready for the holiday with these 50 trivia questions! Thanksgiving History and TraditionsFirst Thanksgiving Dinner Illustration | American Stock Archive/GettyImages1. In what year did the Pilgrims and Wampanoag share the harvest gathering commonly associated with the first Thanksgiving?Answer: 1621.2. Which Indigenous people attended the 1621 harvest gathering alongside the English colonists?Answer: The Wampanoag.3. What was the name of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to North America in 1620?Answer: The Mayflower.4. Which U.S. president issued a proclamation in 1863 establishing an annual national Thanksgiving observance?Answer: Abraham Lincoln.5. Which 19th-century magazine editor campaigned for years to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday?Answer: Sarah Josepha Hale.6. What did the English settlers celebrate at their 1621 gathering in Plymouth?Answer: A successful harvest.7. Which president moved Thanksgiving one week earlier in 1939 to extend the Christmas shopping season?Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt.8. In what year did Congress establish Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November?Answer: 1941.9. Which Patuxet man, also known as Tisquantum, helped the Plymouth settlers communicate with local Indigenous communities?Answer: Squanto.10. How long did the 1621 harvest gathering reportedly last?Answer: Three days.11. Which president proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving in 1789 under the newly established U.S. Constitution?Answer: George Washington.12. Which two types of meat are specifically mentioned in accounts of the 1621 harvest gathering?Answer: Venison and wild fowl.13. What was the name of the English settlement established by the Pilgrims in present-day Massachusetts?Answer: Plymouth.14. Which president is widely credited with formalizing the modern presidential Thanksgiving turkey pardon tradition in 1989?Answer: George H. W. Bush.15. On what date did George Washington proclaim the first national Thanksgiving under the U.S. Constitution?Answer: November 26, 1789.16. Which region of the United States was particularly associated with early Thanksgiving observances?Answer: New England.17. What religious group did the Pilgrims belong to before leaving England and traveling to North America?Answer: English Separatists.Thanksgiving Food and Festive FunCider-Glazed Turkey | The Washington Post/GettyImages18. Which classic Thanksgiving side dish is commonly made with bread cubes, herbs, and vegetables?Answer: Stuffing, also called dressing.19. Which orange-colored squash is the main ingredient in traditional pumpkin pie?Answer: Pumpkin.20. Which tart, red berry is commonly cooked with sugar to make a Thanksgiving sauce?Answer: The cranberry.21. What is the name of the small forked bone that people traditionally pull apart to make a wish?Answer: The wishbone.22. Which root vegetable is often mashed and topped with marshmallows for Thanksgiving?Answer: Sweet potatoes.23. What is the collective culinary name for a turkey's edible internal organs, sometimes used to make gravy?Answer: Giblets.24. Which Thanksgiving dessert is made with pecans, a sweet filling, and a pastry crust?Answer: Pecan pie.25. What cooking method involves slowly rotating meat over a heat source?Answer: Rotisserie cooking.26. Which spice commonly used in pumpkin pie is made from the inner bark of a tree?Answer: Cinnamon.27. What is the culinary term for the juices that collect in a roasting pan while a turkey cooks?Answer: Drippings. The browned bits stuck to the pan are called fond.28. Which North American native berry is often used to make Thanksgiving sauce or relish?Answer: The cranberry.29. What grain is ground to make cornmeal, a common ingredient in cornbread?Answer: Corn.30. What vegetable is commonly sold as a "yam" in American grocery stores, even though it is botanically different from a true yam?Answer: The sweet potato.31. What fluffy topping is commonly served on a slice of pumpkin pie?Answer: Whipped cream.32. Which casserole combines green beans with a creamy sauce and is often topped with crispy fried onions?Answer: Green bean casserole.33. What cooking technique involves spooning or brushing pan juices over a roasting turkey as it cooks?Answer: Basting.34. Which classic dessert features sliced apples baked inside a pastry crust?Answer: Apple pie.Thanksgiving Pop Culture, Parades, and Fun Facts1939 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade | Camerique/GettyImages35. Which department store launched the famous Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City in 1924?Answer: Macy's.36. In which New York City borough does the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade take place?Answer: Manhattan.37. Which cartoon character became the first character balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927?Answer: Felix the Cat. The balloon was carried on sticks rather than floating with helium.38. Which famous New York City parade traditionally concludes with Santa Claus?Answer: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.39. Which NFL team began its Thanksgiving Day home-game tradition in 1934, with a six-season interruption from 1939 through 1944?Answer: The Detroit Lions.40. Which other NFL team began its long-running Thanksgiving Day home-game tradition in 1966?Answer: The Dallas Cowboys.41. What is a fun run held around Thanksgiving commonly called?Answer: A Turkey Trot.42. Which popular sitcom features a Thanksgiving episode in which Monica puts a turkey on her head?Answer: Friends.43. What 1947 holiday film features a department store Santa Claus and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?Answer: Miracle on 34th Street.44. Which Peanuts character is the central figure in the animated holiday special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving?Answer: Charlie Brown.45. What unusual meal does Snoopy serve his friends in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving?Answer: Toast, popcorn, pretzels, and jelly beans.46. What are the enormous inflatable figures shaped like cartoon characters and famous personalities in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade called?Answer: Giant character balloons.47. What three types of attractions are among the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade's most recognizable features?Answer: Giant balloons, marching bands, and elaborate floats.48. Which two Texas universities resumed their football rivalry in November 2024 after a 13-year hiatus?Answer: The University of Texas and Texas A&M University.49. Which president signed the law establishing Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November?Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1941.50. What is the name of the major shopping day that falls immediately after Thanksgiving in the United States?Answer: Black Friday.Read More: