Thanksgiving is such a beautiful holiday – I simply love its essence. It brings gratitude, familiar traditions, food shared around the same table, and time with the people we care about.
If you’re a fan of trivia games, then you’ll love this Thanksgiving trivia I put together for you! There are 200 Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers covering food, turkeys, traditions, history, presidents, the Macy’s parade, football, movies, television and pop culture.
The game starts with quick wins and becomes harder as you continue. Every question tests a different fact, so you won’t find the same information repeated later with the question and answer reversed. You can play directly from this page, keep one continuous score from Question 1 to Question 200, and see whether you can handle the final 15-question challenge.
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Easy Thanksgiving Trivia Questions
The opening round uses easy Thanksgiving trivia questions. These are good Thanksgiving trivia questions for kids and adults playing together, but they aren’t so childish that the grown-ups will lose interest.
Many of the answers are familiar, just like the opening questions in this general knowledge quiz. A group that knows American places and customs may also enjoy the U.S. state trivia questions.
1. On which day of the week is Thanksgiving celebrated in the United States?
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Answer: Thursday.
2. In which month does U.S. Thanksgiving take place?
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Answer: November.
3. Which Thursday of November is Thanksgiving in the United States?
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Answer: The fourth Thursday.
4. What name is commonly given to the main meal shared on Thanksgiving?
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Answer: Thanksgiving dinner.
5. Which tart red fruit is commonly served as a sauce at Thanksgiving?
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Answer: The cranberry.
6. Which orange dessert is one of the best-known Thanksgiving pies?
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Answer: Pumpkin pie.
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7. What is the Friday after Thanksgiving commonly called?
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Answer: Black Friday.
8. Which department store sponsors New York City’s famous Thanksgiving Day Parade?
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Answer: Macy’s.
9. In which city is the famous Thanksgiving morning parade held?
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Answer: New York City.
10. Which two NFL teams are traditionally associated with hosting Thanksgiving games?
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Answer: The Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys.
11. What is an adult male turkey commonly called?
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Answer: A tom, or a gobbler.
12. What is a baby turkey called?
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Answer: A poult.
13. What sound is a male turkey famous for making?
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Answer: A gobble.
14. What is the V-shaped bone people traditionally pull apart after a poultry dinner called?
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Answer: The wishbone.
15. What is another name for a cornucopia?
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Answer: A horn of plenty.
16. In which month is Thanksgiving celebrated in Canada?
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Answer: October.
17. In which season does Thanksgiving take place in the United States?
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Answer: Fall, or autumn.
18. Which Thanksgiving side dish combines green beans, cream of mushroom soup and fried onions?
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Answer: Green bean casserole.
19. Who wrote and directed the 1987 comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles?
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Answer: John Hughes.
20. How long did the 1621 harvest gathering commonly called the First Thanksgiving last?
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Answer: Three days. The surviving English account describes several days of eating, recreation and military exercises rather than one formal dinner.
Round 1 score: ____ / 20
How to Play This Thanksgiving Trivia Game
You don’t need cards, a PDF or any preparation. One person can read the questions from a phone, tablet or laptop, pause before opening each answer and keep the score.
Play straight through: One person reads each question and gives everyone a few seconds to answer before reading the answer. Award one point for every correct response.
Play in teams: Divide the group into mixed-age teams. Let each team answer in turn, or allow another team to steal the point after a wrong answer.
Choose a shorter game: One 20-question section is enough for a quick round. Combine food, traditions, myths and entertainment for a longer family game, or save the final 15 questions for your strongest players.
Accept an exact answer or an unmistakably equivalent one. A partly correct answer shouldn’t earn the point when the question asks for a specific person, year, place or title.
For another game that works directly from a phone or tablet, these travel riddles with answers can be used in the same way.
Thanksgiving Food Trivia Questions and Answers
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Food creates some of the best conversations at the table, so this round mixes familiar dishes with a few details people may not know. These Thanksgiving food trivia questions and answers cover the 1621 menu, modern recipes, cooking terms and food safety.
The Thanksgiving dinner quiz becomes more interesting when an answer clears up a common assumption. You may know exactly how green bean casserole tastes and still be surprised by who created it or what wasn’t served at the famous 1621 gathering.
21. What was the name of the Campbell Test Kitchen manager who created a famous Thanksgiving casserole in 1955?
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Answer: Dorcas Reilly, a Campbell Test Kitchen manager.
22. Which condensed soup gives the classic green bean casserole its creamy base?
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Answer: Cream of mushroom soup.
23. What meat did Ousamequin’s men bring to the 1621 harvest gathering?
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Answer: Venison. Edward Winslow’s account says they killed five deer and brought them to the settlement.
24. What broad word did Edward Winslow use for the birds served at the 1621 gathering?
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Answer: Fowl. The surviving account doesn’t identify every species, so turkey can’t be confirmed from that wording alone.
25. Which familiar Thanksgiving sauce was almost certainly absent from the 1621 meal because sugar was scarce?
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Answer: Modern cranberry sauce.
26. Which familiar Thanksgiving dessert was almost certainly not served in its modern form in 1621?
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Answer: Pumpkin pie. The colonists didn’t have the ovens, flour and abundant sugar needed for the pie we know today.
27. Which Native American grain grew especially well for the Plymouth colonists and became an important food?
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Answer: Flint corn, also called maize.
28. Why do ripe cranberries float during the wet-harvesting process?
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Answer: They contain internal air pockets. Those pockets allow ripe cranberries to float during wet harvesting and also help healthy berries bounce when dropped.
29. Sweet potatoes belong to the same plant family as which familiar flowering vine?
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Answer: The morning glory.
30. Which nut gives pecan pie its name?
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Answer: The pecan.
31. Which three organs are commonly included among poultry giblets?
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Answer: The heart, liver and gizzard. The neck is often packaged with them, but it isn’t technically a giblet; the muscular gizzard helps a bird grind food.
32. What does brining a turkey usually involve?
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Answer: Soaking it in, or coating it with, a salty solution so the meat is seasoned and retains moisture.
33. What does it mean to spatchcock a turkey?
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Answer: To remove the backbone and flatten the bird before cooking.
34. What two basic ingredients are combined to make a traditional roux?
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Answer: Fat and flour.
35. In cooking instructions, what generally distinguishes stuffing from dressing?
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Answer: Stuffing is cooked inside the bird, while dressing is cooked in a separate dish. Regional usage can blur the distinction.
36. What three birds are combined in a turducken?
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Answer: A chicken inside a duck inside a turkey.
37. Botanically speaking, is a pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable?
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Answer: A fruit.
38. What surprising ingredient was traditionally included in mincemeat?
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Answer: Meat. Modern versions often contain only dried fruit, spices, sugar and fat.
39. What flavorful liquid collected from a roasting pan is often used to make gravy?
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Answer: Pan drippings.
40. What minimum internal temperature should cooked turkey reach for food safety?
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Answer: 165°F, or about 74°C. Check the thickest parts of the breast and thigh without letting the thermometer touch bone.
41. Within how long should perishable Thanksgiving leftovers normally be refrigerated?
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Answer: Within two hours.
42. How long can cooked Thanksgiving leftovers generally stay in the refrigerator?
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Answer: Three to four days.
43. Which company popularized the TV dinner after a famous surplus of Thanksgiving turkey?
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Answer: Swanson. According to the best-known account, the company had about 260 tons of frozen turkey left after Thanksgiving in 1953 and used it in partitioned frozen dinners.
44. Why were mashed potatoes almost certainly absent from the 1621 harvest gathering?
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Answer: Potatoes weren’t part of the Plymouth colonists’ New England diet at that time.
45. In which year did the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line begin answering Thanksgiving cooking questions?
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Answer: 1981. Six home economists answered about 11,000 questions during its first holiday season.
Round 2 score: ____ / 25
Turkey Trivia Questions and Answers
A turkey is much more interesting than the cartoon version seen on decorations. This round of turkey trivia questions and answers includes anatomy, behavior, species and wild turkey facts that work well for mixed-age groups.
Readers who like animal questions can continue later with national parks trivia, while the names of all those unusual body parts connect naturally with this human body trivia quiz.
46. What is an adult female turkey called?
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Answer: A hen.
47. What is a young male turkey called?
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Answer: A jake.
48. What is a young female turkey called?
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Answer: A jenny.
49. What is the fleshy projection that hangs over a turkey’s beak called?
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Answer: The snood.
50. What is the fleshy flap hanging from a turkey’s throat or neck called?
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Answer: The wattle.
51. What are the bumpy, fleshy growths on a turkey’s head and neck called?
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Answer: Caruncles.
52. Can wild turkeys fly?
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Answer: Yes. They can fly strongly for short distances, although they spend much of their time on the ground.
53. Where do wild turkeys commonly sleep at night?
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Answer: In trees, where they roost above many ground predators.
54. Where does a wild turkey hen usually build her nest?
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Answer: On the ground, often in a shallow depression hidden by vegetation.
55. Are wild turkeys herbivores, carnivores or omnivores?
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Answer: Omnivores. They eat plant material as well as insects and other small animals.
56. To which continent are wild turkeys native?
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Answer: North America.
57. What is the scientific name of the Wild Turkey?
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Answer: Meleagris gallopavo.
58. What is the other living turkey species besides the Wild Turkey?
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Answer: The Ocellated Turkey.
59. Where is the world’s second living turkey species found in the wild?
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Answer: On the Yucatán Peninsula and in nearby parts of Central America.
60. What is the male turkey’s courtship display called?
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Answer: Strutting.
61. How many main tail feathers does an adult wild turkey usually have?
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Answer: Eighteen. During a strut, an adult male spreads them into the familiar fan shape.
62. What hair-like feature can grow from a turkey’s chest?
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Answer: A beard. It is more common in males, although some females have one too.
63. What pointed structures can grow on the backs of a turkey’s lower legs?
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Answer: Spurs.
64. Which parent normally raises wild turkey poults?
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Answer: The hen. Males don’t usually take part in raising the young.
65. Which sense is especially strong in wild turkeys and helps them detect movement over a wide area?
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Answer: Vision.
Round 3 score: ____ / 20
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Thanksgiving Traditions Trivia
The holiday includes much more than one meal. These Thanksgiving traditions trivia questions move through wishbones, races, gratitude, shopping days and observances that give the season several very different meanings.
They also make fun Thanksgiving trivia for a family dinner because older and younger players often know different answers. If seasonal traditions are your favorite category, the history, candy and customs in this Halloween trivia game offer another long challenge.
66. In which year was GivingTuesday created?
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Answer: 2012.
67. Who wrote the poem commonly known as “Over the River and Through the Wood”?
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Answer: Lydia Maria Child. It was originally published as “The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day.”
68. What does a cornucopia traditionally symbolize?
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Answer: Abundance and a plentiful harvest.
69. What observance falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving and honors Native American cultures and contributions?
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Answer: Native American Heritage Day.
70. In which year was the first Buffalo Turkey Trot held?
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Answer: 1896.
71. How many runners took part in the first Buffalo Turkey Trot in 1896?
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Answer: Six. They ran a five-mile cross-country course on dirt roads, and Henry A. Allison became the race’s first winner.
72. What name is commonly given to a Thanksgiving-style meal shared mainly with friends?
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Answer: Friendsgiving.
73. In what year did the earliest known printed use of that word appear?
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Answer: 2007. The word existed before the television series Friends was widely credited with inspiring it; the name describes a Thanksgiving-style gathering with friends.
74. On which day is Canadian Thanksgiving celebrated?
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Answer: The second Monday in October.
75. What informal name is often given to the separate table where younger guests sit?
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Answer: The kids’ table.
76. In which year did the National Day of Mourning begin?
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Answer: 1970.
77. Which Wampanoag leader’s rejected anniversary speech helped lead to the first National Day of Mourning?
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Answer: Wamsutta Frank James.
78. In which U.S. city did police popularize the shopping-related term for the day after Thanksgiving?
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Answer: Philadelphia.
79. Why did officers use that term?
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Answer: To describe the heavy traffic, crowds and long shifts around the Thanksgiving weekend.
80. What is the earliest possible calendar date for U.S. Thanksgiving, and what is the latest?
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Answer: November 22 is the earliest, and November 28 is the latest. The range comes from placing the holiday on the fourth Thursday.
81. In which year was Thanksgiving included in the first federal holiday law?
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Answer: 1870. The law applied to federal holidays in the District of Columbia and helped establish the modern federal-holiday system.
82. Which shopping day two days after Thanksgiving promotes independent and local businesses?
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Answer: Small Business Saturday.
83. Which online shopping day follows the Thanksgiving weekend?
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Answer: Cyber Monday.
84. Which American artist painted the Thanksgiving-associated scene Freedom from Want?
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Answer: Norman Rockwell. The painting appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in 1943 as part of his Four Freedoms series.
85. What name was used for a traditional English harvest celebration familiar to the Plymouth colonists?
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Answer: Harvest Home.
Round 4 score: ____ / 20
Thanksgiving Facts or Myths? Multiple Choice and True or False
A change of format helps at the midpoint, so the next set combines Thanksgiving true or false questions with Thanksgiving multiple-choice questions. The false statements correct myths that appear frequently in holiday articles and games.
Read the entire statement before answering. Some sound convincing because one part is true, but the conclusion isn’t.
86. True or false: Benjamin Franklin formally proposed the turkey as the national bird of the United States.
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Answer: False. Franklin praised the turkey while criticizing the eagle in a private letter, but he didn’t submit a formal national-bird proposal.
87. True or false: All the passengers aboard the Mayflower belonged to the same religious congregation.
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Answer: False. The passengers included Separatists as well as other colonists commonly called Strangers.
88. True or false: The Mayflower began its 1620 journey with a companion ship called the Speedwell.
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Answer: True. Problems with the Speedwell forced both ships to turn back, and the Mayflower eventually continued alone.
89. True or false: Turkey’s tryptophan alone is the reason people feel sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner.
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Answer: False. A large meal, alcohol, carbohydrates and normal body rhythms can all contribute. Turkey doesn’t contain uniquely extraordinary amounts of tryptophan.
90. True or false: A turkey’s beard is made of hair.
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Answer: False. The beard is formed from modified, bristle-like feathers.
91. True or false: Wild turkeys can see colors.
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Answer: True. Their strong color vision helps them detect food, movement and possible danger.
92. True or false: Every U.S. state adopted Franklin D. Roosevelt’s earlier Thanksgiving date in 1939.
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Answer: False. The change divided the country, with some states following the new date and others retaining the traditional one.
93. True or false: Sweet potatoes and yams are the same plant.
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Answer: False. They are different plants from different botanical families, although the names are often mixed up in U.S. grocery stores.
94. True or false: Cranberry plants grow underwater.
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Answer: False. Cranberries grow on low vines. Some bogs are flooded during harvest so ripe berries can float to the surface.
95. True or false: Historians have proved that “Jingle Bells” was written specifically as a Thanksgiving song.
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Answer: False. The song’s early history has inspired that claim, but there is no conclusive evidence that it was composed specifically for Thanksgiving.
96. Which publication contains Edward Winslow’s surviving eyewitness account of the 1621 harvest gathering?
A. Poor Richard’s Almanack
B. Mourt’s Relation
C. The Federalist Papers
D. Common Sense
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Answer: B. Mourt’s Relation.
97. Which U.S. president generally declined to issue national Thanksgiving proclamations while in office?
A. Thomas Jefferson
B. James Madison
C. Abraham Lincoln
D. Ulysses S. Grant
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Answer: A. Thomas Jefferson.
98. Which U.S. city hosts the country’s oldest Thanksgiving parade?
A. Boston
B. Chicago
C. Philadelphia
D. New York City
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Answer: C. Philadelphia.
99. Which gas began lifting Macy’s large parade balloons in 1928?
A. Oxygen
B. Helium
C. Nitrogen
D. Carbon dioxide
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Answer: B. Helium.
100. Which puppeteer and designer helped develop Macy’s early giant balloons?
A. Jim Henson
B. Walt Disney
C. Tony Sarg
D. Charles Schulz
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Answer: C. Tony Sarg.
101. Which football star made his professional debut on Thanksgiving Day in 1925?
A. Red Grange
B. Jim Brown
C. Bart Starr
D. Johnny Unitas
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Answer: A. Red Grange.
102. Which 1995 Thanksgiving film was directed by Jodie Foster?
A. Dutch
B. Home for the Holidays
C. The Ice Storm
D. What’s Cooking?
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Answer: B. Home for the Holidays.
103. Which 2003 film follows April Burns as she tries to prepare Thanksgiving dinner in a small New York apartment?
A. Pieces of April
B. Dan in Real Life
C. The Family Stone
D. Four Christmases
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Answer: A. Pieces of April. It is one of many films, songs and cultural references covered in the 2000s trivia questions.
104. Which editor spent years campaigning for a national Thanksgiving observance?
A. Nellie Bly
B. Sarah Josepha Hale
C. Margaret Fuller
D. Ida Tarbell
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Answer: B. Sarah Josepha Hale.
105. Which English colony held the 1621 harvest gathering?
A. Jamestown Colony
B. Massachusetts Bay Colony
C. Plymouth Colony
D. Roanoke Colony
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Answer: C. Plymouth Colony.
Round 5 score: ____ / 20
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Holiday Events Trivia
Giant balloons make the parade look effortless on television, but its history includes live animals, wartime cancellations and floats engineered to fit through a tunnel. This Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade trivia round also includes two other long-running Thanksgiving events.
The 2026 parade has a special place in the questions because it will be the 100th edition. For more American cities, landmarks and cultural details, the U.S. travel trivia questions continue the challenge.
106. In which year was the first parade held?
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Answer: 1924.
107. What was the parade originally called?
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Answer: The Macy’s Christmas Parade.
108. What type of animals appeared in its earliest editions?
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Answer: Live animals from the Central Park Zoo.
109. In which year did large balloons first join the parade?
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Answer: 1927.
110. Which precision dance company is a familiar part of the televised parade?
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Answer: The Radio City Rockettes.
111. During which three years was the parade canceled?
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Answer: 1942, 1943 and 1944.
112. What material from its deflated balloons was donated for the World War II effort?
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Answer: Rubber.
113. In which year will the 100th Thanksgiving Day Parade take place?
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Answer: 2026. The parade began in 1924 but was canceled for three years during World War II, which is why its 100th edition arrives 102 years after the first.
114. On which day are the giant balloons traditionally inflated for public viewing?
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Answer: The Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
115. Which famous figure traditionally appears at the end of the parade?
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Answer: Santa Claus.
116. At which famous department-store location does the parade finish?
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Answer: Macy’s Herald Square on 34th Street.
117. Through which tunnel do the floats travel on their way from New Jersey to Manhattan?
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Answer: The Lincoln Tunnel.
118. Which cartoon character is recognized as the first giant balloon in the parade?
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Answer: Felix the Cat. The balloon appeared in 1927, when giant inflatables began replacing the live zoo animals used in the earliest parades.
119. In which state is the parade’s studio located?
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Answer: New Jersey.
120. What does the parade call an inflatable that contains a vehicle?
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Answer: A balloonicle.
121. What happened to some early balloons at the end of the parade?
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Answer: They were released into the sky. Later balloons carried return information, and people who found them could claim a reward.
122. In which year did organizers end the practice of releasing balloons after the parade?
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Answer: 1932.
123. Which Philadelphia department store began the parade now recognized as America’s oldest Thanksgiving parade?
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Answer: Gimbels.
124. In which year did Philadelphia’s Thanksgiving parade begin?
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Answer: 1920.
125. Which televised canine competition traditionally follows the Macy’s parade on NBC?
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Answer: The National Dog Show.
Round 6 score: ____ / 20
Thanksgiving History Trivia Questions and Answers
The familiar school story leaves out important context and often turns uncertain details into facts. These Thanksgiving history trivia questions and answers focus on what the surviving record supports, what remains unknown and the Wampanoag people whose homeland was the setting for the 1621 gathering.
Historical Thanksgiving facts need careful wording, especially when one short English account is carrying so much of the story. Readers who enjoy broader history and culture can also try the European history trivia questions.
126. In which year did the harvest gathering commonly called the First Thanksgiving take place?
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Answer: 1621.
127. What is the title of William Bradford’s history of Plymouth Colony?
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Answer: Of Plymouth Plantation. Bradford wrote it over many years, beginning more than a decade after the colony was founded.
128. At which English settlement did the 1621 gathering take place?
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Answer: Plymouth, in present-day Massachusetts.
129. Which Indigenous nation lived in the region and joined the gathering?
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Answer: The Wampanoag.
130. What was the name of the Pokanoket leader who attended the gathering?
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Answer: Ousamequin, also widely known by the title Massasoit.
131. Approximately how many men accompanied the Pokanoket leader to the 1621 gathering?
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Answer: About 90.
132. Which colonist wrote the only surviving eyewitness description of the gathering?
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Answer: Edward Winslow.
133. In which year was Winslow’s account published?
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Answer: 1622.
134. How many Plymouth men did the governor send out to hunt birds before the gathering?
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Answer: Four.
135. How many of the Mayflower‘s 102 passengers were still alive by the spring of 1621?
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Answer: Fifty-three. Nearly half of the passengers died during the first winter in New England.
136. What activity is the only recreation specifically named in Winslow’s short account?
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Answer: Exercises with arms, generally understood as military or musket drills.
137. Between which dates does Plimoth Patuxet place the possible timing of the gathering?
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Answer: Sometime between September 21 and November 9, 1621.
138. What was the name of the ship that carried the Plymouth colonists across the Atlantic?
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Answer: The Mayflower.
139. In which year did the voyage reach New England?
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Answer: 1620.
140. What agreement did the male passengers sign aboard the Mayflower?
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Answer: The Mayflower Compact.
141. How many passengers began the 1620 voyage?
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Answer: 102.
142. At which landform did the ship first anchor in present-day Massachusetts?
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Answer: Cape Cod.
143. What was the Indigenous name of the place where Plymouth was built?
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Answer: Patuxet.
144. Which man from that village helped the colonists communicate and learn local agricultural practices?
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Answer: Tisquantum, commonly called Squanto.
145. Which European language could the interpreter speak?
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Answer: English. He had learned it after being kidnapped, taken across the Atlantic and spending years away from Patuxet before returning.
146. Which crop did Tisquantum help the colonists learn to cultivate successfully?
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Answer: Corn, or maize.
147. What kind of agreement did Plymouth and Ousamequin establish in 1621?
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Answer: An alliance of mutual protection.
148. In which Dutch city did many of the English Separatists live before sailing for North America?
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Answer: Leiden. The congregation lived there for about 11 or 12 years after a shorter stay in Amsterdam.
149. Is there a surviving contemporary Wampanoag written account of the three-day gathering?
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Answer: No. The surviving eyewitness description is an English account, so many Wampanoag perspectives and details can’t be recovered from a contemporary written record.
150. Did Wampanoag traditions of giving thanks begin with the arrival of the English colonists?
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Answer: No. Wampanoag communities had daily, seasonal and harvest traditions of gratitude long before 1621.
Round 7 score: ____ / 25
U.S. Presidents and Thanksgiving Trivia
Presidential Thanksgiving history is full of similar-sounding firsts. One president issued an early proclamation, another encouraged an annual national observance, Congress fixed the date, and the modern turkey pardon came much later.
These U.S. presidents and Thanksgiving trivia questions keep those events separate. That precision makes the Thanksgiving holiday history easier to remember and prevents the usual question-and-answer reversals.
151. Which president issued a national Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789?
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Answer: George Washington.
152. On which date did Washington ask Americans to observe that Thanksgiving?
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Answer: November 26, 1789.
153. What was historically significant about Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving?
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Answer: It was the first national Thanksgiving observed under the new U.S. Constitution.
154. Which president called for an annual national Thanksgiving observance in 1863?
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Answer: Abraham Lincoln.
155. Which influential magazine did Sarah Josepha Hale edit during her Thanksgiving campaign?
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Answer: Godey’s Lady’s Book.
156. Which famous nursery rhyme is Sarah Josepha Hale credited with writing?
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Answer: “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”
157. Which Thursday of November did Lincoln designate in his 1863 proclamation?
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Answer: The last Thursday.
158. Which president moved Thanksgiving one week earlier in 1939?
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Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt.
159. On which date did Roosevelt place Thanksgiving in 1939?
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Answer: November 23.
160. What nickname did critics give Roosevelt’s moved Thanksgiving date?
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Answer: Franksgiving.
161. Which branch of the U.S. government made the holiday date statutory in 1941?
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Answer: Congress.
162. On which date did Roosevelt sign the measure establishing the fourth Thursday as the federal Thanksgiving holiday?
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Answer: December 26, 1941.
163. Which president publicly spared a turkey in 1963 by saying it should be allowed to live?
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Answer: John F. Kennedy.
164. Which president joked publicly about pardoning a turkey in 1987?
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Answer: Ronald Reagan.
165. Which president formally established the modern annual turkey-pardon tradition in 1989?
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Answer: George H. W. Bush. Earlier presidents had spared individual birds, but Bush used the language of a presidential pardon in the formal annual ceremony.
Round 8 score: ____ / 15
Thanksgiving Football, Movies, TV and Pop Culture Trivia
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After two history-heavy rounds, the game gets lighter again. These Thanksgiving pop culture trivia questions and answers combine football, Thanksgiving movie trivia, television episodes and familiar holiday moments from several decades instead of concentrating on one film or series.
Sports fans can compare their NFL knowledge with the World Cup trivia questions. Movie and TV fans may find that the answers they remember fastest come from shows they haven’t watched in years.
166. In which year did the Detroit Lions begin their Thanksgiving game tradition?
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Answer: 1934.
167. Which Lions owner arranged the first Detroit Thanksgiving game as a promotion for the team?
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Answer: George A. Richards.
168. Which team played the Lions in Detroit’s first Thanksgiving game?
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Answer: The Chicago Bears.
169. During which six seasons did the Lions not play on Thanksgiving?
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Answer: 1939 through 1944.
170. In which year did the Dallas Cowboys begin hosting Thanksgiving games?
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Answer: 1966.
171. Which team faced Dallas in the Cowboys’ first Thanksgiving game?
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Answer: The Cleveland Browns.
172. In which year did the NFL add a regular third Thanksgiving game?
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Answer: 2006.
173. Which quarterback threw six touchdown passes on Thanksgiving in 2004?
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Answer: Peyton Manning.
174. In which year did A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving first air?
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Answer: 1973.
175. What four simple foods does Snoopy serve at Charlie Brown’s improvised Thanksgiving meal?
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Answer: Toast, popcorn, pretzel sticks and jelly beans.
176. Which character invites herself and several friends to Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving dinner?
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Answer: Peppermint Patty.
177. Which comedian first performed “The Thanksgiving Song” on Saturday Night Live in 1992?
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Answer: Adam Sandler. He performed it during the Weekend Update segment before later releasing a live version on an album.
178. In which year was Planes, Trains and Automobiles released?
Show answer
Answer: 1987. The John Hughes comedy became one of the best-known Thanksgiving travel films and is among the movies covered in this 80s trivia quiz.
179. Which sitcom featured the disastrous “Turkeys Away” Thanksgiving promotion?
Show answer
Answer: WKRP in Cincinnati. The station’s publicity stunt involves live turkeys being dropped from a helicopter.
180. Which sitcom gave the name “Slapsgiving” to one of its Thanksgiving episodes?
Show answer
Answer: How I Met Your Mother. The title combines Thanksgiving with the show’s long-running slap-bet story.
181. How many Thanksgiving dinners do Lorelai and Rory try to attend in one day in Gilmore Girls?
Show answer
Answer: Four. The episode is titled “A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving.”
182. What informal name is often used for a family or neighborhood football game played on Thanksgiving?
Show answer
Answer: A Turkey Bowl. These games are usually casual touch, flag or backyard football matches.
183. What ordinary bathroom accessories does Del Griffith try to sell as jewelry?
Show answer
Answer: Shower-curtain rings. Del turns them into improvised earrings and tries to sell them during the trip.
184. Which sitcom became famous for airing numerous Thanksgiving episodes during its ten-season run?
Show answer
Answer: Friends. The sitcom aired a Thanksgiving episode in nearly every season, and its holiday moments are part of the nostalgia covered in these 90s trivia questions.
185. Which character gets a turkey stuck on his head in a Friends flashback?
Show answer
Answer: Joey Tribbiani.
Round 9 score: ____ / 20
Hard Thanksgiving Trivia Questions
The final round is meant to be difficult. These hard Thanksgiving trivia questions for adults reach beyond the facts repeated in most holiday games and move through documents, legislation, international traditions, literature, art and the way the modern story of Thanksgiving developed.
There are only 15 questions left. A perfect final round won’t be easy, but every answer is specific and verifiable rather than difficult because the wording is vague.
186. What leadership title did Ousamequin hold among the Pokanoket Wampanoag?
Show answer
Answer: Sachem.
187. Who was governor of Plymouth Colony at the time of the 1621 harvest gathering?
Show answer
Answer: William Bradford.
188. Who served as Plymouth Colony’s military captain during its early years?
Show answer
Answer: Myles Standish.
189. Which two legislative chambers requested the 1789 Thanksgiving proclamation?
Show answer
Answer: The Senate and the House of Representatives.
190. Which governing body declared a national day of thanksgiving during the Revolutionary War in 1777?
Show answer
Answer: The Continental Congress.
191. Which secretary of state drafted the text of the 1863 Thanksgiving proclamation?
Show answer
Answer: Secretary of State William H. Seward.
192. For approximately how many years did Sarah Josepha Hale campaign for a national Thanksgiving observance?
Show answer
Answer: About 36 years.
193. What retail concern influenced the 1939 decision to move Thanksgiving earlier?
Show answer
Answer: Retailers feared that a late Thanksgiving would create a shorter Christmas shopping season.
194. Which two competing words were at issue when the Senate modified the proposed 1941 holiday date?
Show answer
Answer: “Last” and “fourth.” The change placed Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday, which isn’t always the month’s final Thursday.
195. Which English explorer held a ceremony of thanks in what is now Canada in 1578?
Show answer
Answer: Martin Frobisher.
196. On which day is Liberia’s National Thanksgiving Day observed?
Show answer
Answer: The first Thursday in November. Liberia’s observance reflects historical ties with the United States.
197. What is the name of Japan’s national holiday celebrated on November 23?
Show answer
Answer: Labor Thanksgiving Day.
198. In which year did the federal law fixing U.S. Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday first take effect?
Show answer
Answer: 1942.
199. On which day is Thanksgiving celebrated on Norfolk Island?
Show answer
Answer: The last Wednesday of November. The public holiday is linked to American whalers who visited the island in the nineteenth century.
200. Which nineteenth-century editor added a footnote calling the 1621 harvest gathering “the First Thanksgiving”?
Show answer
Answer: Alexander Young. His 1841 footnote helped popularize the label “the First Thanksgiving” for the 1621 harvest gathering.
Round 10 score: ____ / 15
What Is Your Thanksgiving Trivia Score?
You made it through all 200 questions. Count one point for each correct answer and check your result below.
0-50 correct: Thanksgiving Rookie
You know the familiar symbols and foods, but several parts of the holiday still have surprises waiting for you.
51-100 correct: Holiday Helper
You can hold your own in the easy rounds and probably knew more traditions than you expected.
101-150 correct: Thanksgiving Expert
You know the food, history and entertainment well enough to lead a strong team.
151-180 correct: Turkey Day Champion
Only the deeper historical details and difficult records slowed you down.
181-199 correct: Thanksgiving Trivia Master
That is an outstanding score. You missed very little across ten very different rounds.
200 correct: Perfect Thanksgiving Score
You answered every question correctly, including the final historical challenge.
Share your score and challenge someone else to beat it. If your group wants another seasonal game, the summer trivia questions offer another 200-question challenge.
Conclusion
You can use all 200 Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers for a long game, select one round for a family dinner, or combine a few categories for Friendsgiving, a classroom activity, an office celebration or a video call. It can also fit naturally among these things to do in November when you want an easy activity that brings people together.
For me, a good trivia game isn’t only about the final score. The best questions give people something interesting to discuss after the answer, which is why some of the answers here include a little extra context while others stay short.
Save the game for Thanksgiving and send it to the people you want on your team. The most entertaining part may be discovering who knows turkey anatomy, who remembers the television episodes and who can answer the final history questions without guessing.
FAQ About Thanksgiving Trivia Questions
How many questions should I use for a Thanksgiving trivia game?
Twenty questions work well for a short Thanksgiving trivia game. Use 40 to 60 questions for a longer family or office competition, or play all 200 questions when the group wants a full quiz with several categories and difficulty levels.
Are these Thanksgiving trivia questions suitable for children?
Many are. The easy round, food questions, turkey facts and several multiple-choice questions are accessible to children. The history, presidential and final rounds are better for older children, teenagers and adults.
How can children and adults play together fairly?
Create mixed-age teams and rotate the person who gives the final answer. You can also let younger players answer first during the easy round, then allow adults to help with the harder history and presidential questions.
How long does a Thanksgiving trivia game take?
A 20-question round normally takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Fifty questions may take 30 to 45 minutes, especially when people discuss the facts. Playing all 200 can take two hours or more, depending on how much time you allow for each answer.
Can I play this Thanksgiving trivia game directly from the page?
Yes. One person can read the questions from a phone, tablet, laptop or desktop. Pause after each question, collect the answers and then read the answer underneath it.
What makes a Thanksgiving trivia question fair?
A fair question has one clear interpretation and one defensible answer. Dates, places and legal distinctions should be precise, while disputed claims should be identified or left out. A long quiz should also avoid testing the same fact twice.
What are good Thanksgiving trivia categories?
Strong categories include easy Thanksgiving trivia, food, turkey facts, traditions, history, presidents, true or false, multiple choice, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, football, movies, television, pop culture and a difficult final round.
What is a hard Thanksgiving trivia question?
A hard question tests a less familiar but verifiable fact, such as the author who drafted Lincoln’s proclamation or the editor who helped popularize the phrase “First Thanksgiving.” It shouldn’t be difficult because the wording is vague or the answer is debatable.
Sources and Editorial Standards
Every question in this article tests a separate fact. I checked the complete list for duplicate questions, reversed question-and-answer pairs and answers that depend mainly on opinion. Changing facts include a year, and claims that remain disputed aren’t presented as settled history.
The 1621 section was checked against educational material and primary-source interpretation from Plimoth Patuxet Museums and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Presidential proclamations and the federal date were checked against the National Archives. Food-safety answers follow USDA Thanksgiving guidance, while the green bean casserole questions use Campbell’s recipe history.
Wild turkey anatomy and behavior were checked against the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Parade dates and balloon history were checked against Macy’s official parade information and the Library of Congress. Turkey Trot history comes from YMCA Buffalo Niagara, and NFL history was checked against the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Native American Heritage Day was checked against U.S. Indian Affairs.
Modern terms and movements were checked against Merriam-Webster and GivingTuesday.
The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line history comes from Butterball, while the Thanksgiving-surplus account behind Swanson’s TV dinners was checked against the Smithsonian’s history of the TV dinner.
The Leiden question was checked against Plimoth Patuxet’s Pilgrim history. Lydia Maria Child’s Thanksgiving poem was checked against the Library of Congress, and Freedom from Want against the Norman Rockwell Museum.
Norfolk Island’s Thanksgiving observance was checked against Norfolk Island Tourism. Film and television questions were cross-checked against episode and film records rather than copied from other trivia lists.
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Violeta-Loredana Pascal is a communications expert, business mentor, and the founder of Earth’s Attractions and PRwave INTERNATIONAL. A pioneer in the Romanian digital PR landscape since 2005, she holds a degree in Communication and Social Sciences from SNSPA Bucharest. Violeta is a senior trainer at AcademiadeAfaceri.ro, where she leverages over 20 years of experience to teach professional courses in PR strategy and workplace productivity. By blending high-level business consulting with a passion for holistic travel and wellness, she empowers solopreneurs to overcome procrastination, build profitable brands, and design a life of purposeful adventure.
