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Thanksgiving Quiz: 12 Questions on History and Traditions
Thanksgiving is a holiday of family, food and football, with a history that is more complicated than the school-play version. This Thanksgiving quiz has 12 questions with answers and explanations.
It is also great practice for the seasonal questions that appear in the Bing Quiz each November.
Play the Thanksgiving Quiz
Pick A, B or C for each question. The right answer turns green and a short fact explains it.
Thanksgiving Quiz Questions and Answers
Every question with its answer and explanation. Open “Show answer” after you guess.
1 In which year did the Plymouth harvest feast often called the 'first Thanksgiving' take place?
- A 1776
- B 1621
- C 1492
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✓ Answer: B. 1621
Did you know? It lasted about three days in the autumn of 1621.
2 Which Native American nation shared the 1621 feast with the Plymouth colonists?
- A Lakota
- B Cherokee
- C Wampanoag
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✓ Answer: C. Wampanoag
Did you know? Around 90 Wampanoag men attended, led by Massasoit.
3 Which president proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving in 1863?
- A George Washington
- B Abraham Lincoln
- C Theodore Roosevelt
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✓ Answer: B. Abraham Lincoln
Did you know? He set it for the last Thursday of November.
4 Which writer campaigned for years to make Thanksgiving a national holiday?
- A Harriet Beecher Stowe
- B Sarah Josepha Hale
- C Louisa May Alcott
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✓ Answer: B. Sarah Josepha Hale
Did you know? Hale is also credited with the poem 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'.
5 What nickname did critics give FDR's 1939 change to the Thanksgiving date?
- A Franksgiving
- B Rooseday
- C Early Turkey
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✓ Answer: A. Franksgiving
Did you know? He moved it a week earlier to extend the shopping season.
6 On which day is U.S. Thanksgiving now held?
- A First Friday of December
- B Last Monday of November
- C Fourth Thursday of November
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✓ Answer: C. Fourth Thursday of November
Did you know? Congress set the date by law in 1941.
7 When do Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving?
- A Fourth Thursday of November
- B Second Monday of October
- C First Sunday of September
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✓ Answer: B. Second Monday of October
Did you know? Canada's earlier date reflects its shorter growing season.
8 In which year was the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade held?
- A 1970
- B 1950
- C 1924
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✓ Answer: C. 1924
Did you know? Giant character balloons were added in 1927.
9 Which NFL team has played on Thanksgiving almost every year since 1934?
- A Detroit Lions
- B New York Giants
- C Green Bay Packers
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✓ Answer: A. Detroit Lions
Did you know? The Dallas Cowboys joined the tradition in 1966.
10 Which ship carried the Pilgrims to Plymouth in 1620?
- A Endeavour
- B Santa María
- C Mayflower
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✓ Answer: C. Mayflower
Did you know? The Mayflower Compact was signed aboard before they landed.
11 Which red berry, native to North America, is a Thanksgiving staple sauce?
- A Cherry
- B Cranberry
- C Raspberry
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✓ Answer: B. Cranberry
Did you know? Cranberries grow in bogs and float, which helps harvesting.
12 Which Wampanoag man, also known as Squanto, helped the colonists grow crops?
- A Pocahontas
- B Tisquantum
- C Sitting Bull
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✓ Answer: B. Tisquantum
Did you know? He spoke English after being taken to Europe years earlier.
A short history of Thanksgiving
In autumn 1621, the Plymouth colonists and members of the Wampanoag nation shared a harvest feast that later became known as the 'first Thanksgiving'. For two centuries, days of thanksgiving were declared irregularly. Writer Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for years for a national holiday, and in 1863, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November.
In 1939 Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it a week earlier to lengthen the holiday shopping season, a change critics mocked as 'Franksgiving'. In 1941 Congress fixed it by law on the fourth Thursday of November.
More holiday quizzes
Try the Halloween Quiz, the Fourth of July Quiz or the US States Quiz.
Thanksgiving Quiz FAQ
When is Thanksgiving in the United States?
On the fourth Thursday of November, fixed by law in 1941.
When is Thanksgiving in Canada?
On the second Monday of October.
Who made Thanksgiving a national holiday?
Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving in 1863, after a long campaign by Sarah Josepha Hale.