70 Thanksgiving Trivia Questions and Answers (History, Food, Football and Kids)

There is always a gap at Thanksgiving. The turkey needs another 40 minutes, the football game is at halftime, and half the family is hovering around the kitchen. A round of Thanksgiving trivia fills that gap better than anything, and you might learn why we eat green bean casserole or how a TV dinner was born.

Here are 70 Thanksgiving trivia questions with answers, sorted into history, food, football and the parade, turkeys, kids’ questions and Thanksgiving around the world. Thanksgiving 2026 falls on Thursday, November 26, so you have plenty of time to print a round or two.

Thanksgiving History Trivia

1. In what year did the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag share the harvest feast now called the first Thanksgiving?
   Answer: 1621.
2. How many days did that 1621 celebration last?
   Answer: About three days.
3. Which Wampanoag leader attended the feast with around 90 of his men?
   Answer: Massasoit (also known as Ousamequin).
4. What was the name of the ship that carried the Pilgrims to America in 1620?
   Answer: The Mayflower.
5. About how many passengers were on the Mayflower?
   Answer: 102.
6. Which Patuxet man spoke English and taught the colonists to plant corn?
   Answer: Tisquantum, better known as Squanto.
7. Whose letter is one of only two firsthand accounts of the 1621 feast?
   Answer: Edward Winslow’s (William Bradford wrote the other).
8. What did the Wampanoag bring to the feast, according to Winslow?
   Answer: Five deer.
9. Which writer campaigned for 17 years to make Thanksgiving a national holiday?
   Answer: Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book. She also wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”
10. Which president proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863?
    Answer: Abraham Lincoln.
11. Which president moved Thanksgiving up a week in 1939, a change critics nicknamed “Franksgiving”?
    Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt.
12. In what year did Congress fix Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November?
    Answer: 1941.
13. Which founding father wrote to his daughter that the turkey was “a much more respectable bird” than the bald eagle?
    Answer: Benjamin Franklin, in 1784.
14. What is the name of the protest held in Plymouth on Thanksgiving Day since 1970?
    Answer: The National Day of Mourning.
15. Did the Pilgrims call their 1621 feast “Thanksgiving”?
    Answer: No. To them, a day of thanksgiving was a religious day of prayer, not a feast.

Thanksgiving Food Trivia

16. Which state raises the most turkeys in the US?
    Answer: Minnesota.
17. Which state grows the most cranberries?
    Answer: Wisconsin.
18. Who created green bean casserole in 1955?
    Answer: Dorcas Reilly, in the Campbell’s Soup test kitchen.
19. What did Swanson launch in 1953, supposedly because of a surplus of Thanksgiving turkey?
    Answer: The TV dinner.
20. Ripe cranberries have a special trick. What can they do?
    Answer: Bounce. Growers use bounce boards to sort them.
21. Which 1796 cookbook, the first published by an American author, includes a pumpkin pudding baked in a crust?
    Answer: American Cookery by Amelia Simmons.
22. What is the difference between stuffing and dressing?
    Answer: Stuffing is cooked inside the bird; dressing is baked in a separate dish. In the South, both are often called dressing.
23. What safe internal temperature should a cooked turkey reach, according to the USDA?
    Answer: 165°F (74°C).
24. How long does a frozen turkey take to thaw in the fridge?
    Answer: About 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds.
25. Which hotline has answered turkey cooking questions every November since 1981?
    Answer: The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line.
26. Which company first sold canned cranberry sauce in 1912?
    Answer: Ocean Spray (then the Cape Cod Cranberry Company).
27. What is the most popular Thanksgiving pie in the US?
    Answer: Pumpkin pie, followed by apple and pecan.
28. Which vegetable was almost certainly NOT at the 1621 feast: corn, squash or potatoes?
    Answer: Potatoes. They had not yet become common in New England.

Thanksgiving Football and Macy’s Parade Trivia

29. Which NFL team has played on Thanksgiving every year since 1934 (except during World War II)?
    Answer: The Detroit Lions.
30. Which team became the second regular Thanksgiving host in 1966?
    Answer: The Dallas Cowboys.
31. In what year was the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade held?
    Answer: 1924.
32. What animals marched in the first Macy’s parade instead of balloons?
    Answer: Live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo, including bears, camels and elephants.
33. Which cartoon cat was the first giant character balloon, in 1927?
    Answer: Felix the Cat.
34. Which character has appeared as a balloon in the parade more than any other?
    Answer: Snoopy.
35. Who traditionally arrives at the very end of the Macy’s parade?
    Answer: Santa Claus, marking the start of the Christmas season.
36. Which 1947 movie opens with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
    Answer: Miracle on 34th Street.
37. What is the “Turkey Bowl”?
    Answer: A casual backyard or neighborhood football game played on Thanksgiving morning.
38. In what city does the parade’s route finish, outside Macy’s flagship store?
    Answer: New York City, at Herald Square.

Turkey Trivia

39. What is a male turkey called?
    Answer: A tom (or gobbler).
40. What is a female turkey called?
    Answer: A hen.
41. What are baby turkeys called?
    Answer: Poults.
42. What is the red, fleshy skin hanging under a turkey’s beak called?
    Answer: The wattle. The flap over the beak is the snood.
43. Can wild turkeys fly?
    Answer: Yes, in short bursts of up to about 55 mph. Farm-raised turkeys are usually too heavy to fly.
44. Which turkeys can gobble: toms, hens or both?
    Answer: Only toms gobble. Hens cluck and purr.
45. Which president formalized the White House turkey pardon in 1989?
    Answer: George H. W. Bush.
46. What is a group of wild turkeys called?
    Answer: A rafter (or a flock).
47. How fast can a wild turkey run?
    Answer: Around 25 mph.
48. Turkeys are native to which continent?
    Answer: North America.

Easy Thanksgiving Trivia for Kids

These questions suit kids aged 5 to 10. Read the multiple-choice options aloud to help younger players.

49. What bird do most families eat on Thanksgiving: turkey, chicken or duck?
    Answer: Turkey.
50. What color are cranberries?
    Answer: Red.
51. Which orange vegetable becomes a famous Thanksgiving pie?
    Answer: Pumpkin.
52. What do you pull apart for good luck after the turkey is eaten?
    Answer: The wishbone.
53. On which day of the week is Thanksgiving in the US?
    Answer: Thursday.
54. In which month do Americans celebrate Thanksgiving?
    Answer: November.
55. What sound does a turkey make?
    Answer: Gobble gobble.
56. What is a cornucopia also called?
    Answer: A horn of plenty.
57. Which Peanuts special ends with Snoopy serving toast, popcorn and jelly beans for the holiday meal?
    Answer: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973).
58. What do people say they are at the end of Thanksgiving dinner?
    Answer: Thankful (and very full).

Thanksgiving Around the World

These are the questions that usually split the room. Most people do not realize how many countries hold a harvest thanksgiving of their own.

59. When do Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving?
    Answer: The second Monday in October (October 12 in 2026).
60. Which African country, founded partly by freed American slaves, celebrates Thanksgiving on the first Thursday of November?
    Answer: Liberia.
61. Which Caribbean island marks Thanksgiving on October 25, commemorating the 1983 US intervention?
    Answer: Grenada.
62. Which Pacific island territory of Australia celebrates Thanksgiving, a tradition brought by American whalers?
    Answer: Norfolk Island.
63. What is Japan’s November 23 holiday that honors workers and harvest called?
    Answer: Labor Thanksgiving Day (Kinro Kansha no Hi).
64. What is the Korean harvest festival similar to Thanksgiving called?
    Answer: Chuseok.
65. What is the German harvest thanksgiving called?
    Answer: Erntedankfest.
66. Which Jewish harvest festival is sometimes linked to the Pilgrims’ feast?
    Answer: Sukkot.

Thanksgiving Pop Culture Trivia

67. Which sitcom aired a Thanksgiving episode in every one of its ten seasons?
    Answer: Friends.
68. Which song is often said to have been written for Thanksgiving, though it is now a Christmas hit?
    Answer: “Jingle Bells” (1857), by James Lord Pierpont. Historians still debate the claim.
69. Which 1987 John Hughes comedy follows Steve Martin and John Candy trying to get home for Thanksgiving?
    Answer: Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
70. What do Americans call the day after Thanksgiving, famous for shopping deals?
    Answer: Black Friday.

How to Host a Thanksgiving Trivia Game

• Make teams by table. Kids’ table versus adults’ table is a classic rivalry. Give the kids the easy section for fairness.
• Use answer cards. Teams write answers on index cards so nobody shouts over each other.
• Score in rounds. One point per correct answer, two points for the “around the world” round.
• Pick a prize that fits. The winning team gets first slice of pie or skips dish duty.
• Time it right. Play while the turkey rests, which takes about 30 minutes anyway.

Looking for more games for the day? Try our Thanksgiving bingo printable, Thanksgiving would you rather questions or a Thanksgiving scavenger hunt for the kids.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Thanksgiving 2026?

Thanksgiving 2026 in the United States is on Thursday, November 26. Canadian Thanksgiving 2026 was on Monday, October 12.

What is a good Thanksgiving trivia question?

A good question has a surprising answer, such as “Which state raises the most turkeys?” (Minnesota) or “Which company created green bean casserole?” (Campbell’s). Surprise keeps people talking after the answer is revealed.

Who really ate at the first Thanksgiving?

About 50 English colonists and around 90 Wampanoag men led by Massasoit. They ate venison, wildfowl, corn and seafood, not mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie.

Why is Thanksgiving on a Thursday?

Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation chose the last Thursday of November, following earlier colonial customs of Thursday thanksgiving days. A 1941 law set it as the fourth Thursday.

How many questions should a Thanksgiving trivia game have?

Thirty to forty questions is plenty for a family. Split them into three or four themed rounds so players get a break between each one.

Final Thoughts

Thanksgiving trivia is a simple way to bring every generation into the same conversation, from grandparents who remember the parade on black-and-white TV to kids who just want to know what a poult is. Pick one or two sections, print them, and let the friendly competition start before the pie comes out.