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80 Fun Thanksgiving Trivia Questions and Answers

Thanksgiving trivia questions are a fun way to pass the time with family! You can ask them while gathered around the table, eating turkey.

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Thanksgiving Trivia Questions
Element5 Digital

Thanksgiving trivia questions are a fun way to pass the time with family! You can ask them these questions while gathered around the table, eating turkey, or while watching football. Either way, your Thanksgiving meal isn’t complete without some trivia for the kids and adults. Here are some fun questions and answers about the Thanksgiving holiday:

Thanksgiving Trivia Questions and Answers

In November, when you’re getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, show the kids these fun questions! It will get them in the holiday spirit!

Trivia Question: How long was the first Thanksgiving celebration?
Answer: Three days.

Trivia Question: What seafood was served at the first Thanksgiving feast?
Answer: Lobster, oysters, fish, and possibly eel.

Trivia Question: When is Thanksgiving in Canada?
Answer: The second Monday of October.

Trivia Question: About how many pumpkin pies are consumed every Thanksgiving?
Answer: About 50 million.

Trivia Question: Which president was the first to give a turkey a presidential pardon?
Answer: Ronald Reagan.

Trivia Question: Sarah Josepha Hale, who campaigned for Thanksgiving to be a national holiday, wrote what famous song?
Answer: “Mary Had a Little Lamb”.

Trivia Question: When was green bean casserole introduced to Thanksgiving dinners?
Answer: 1955.

Trivia Question: During which Revolutionary War battle did troops have a day of Thanksgiving?
Answer: The Battle of Saratoga.

Trivia Question: What city has the oldest Thanksgiving Day Parade?
Answer: Philadelphia.

Trivia Question: Which city’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ends with Santa Claus getting a key to the city?
Answer: Detroit.

Trivia Question: What happens at Cole’s Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts every Thanksgiving?
Answer: A “National Day of Mourning” for Native Americans who died at the hand or plague of European settlers.

Trivia Question: What 18-minute monologue is performed on many rock and classic rock stations every Thanksgiving?
Answer: Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant”.

Trivia Question: What year did Adam Sandler release “The Thanksgiving Song?”
Answer: 1992.

Trivia Question: Who was the first President to pardon a turkey?
Answer: John F. Kennedy.

Trivia Question: Which President refused to celebrate Thanksgiving as a national holiday?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson.

Trivia Question: What state raises the most turkeys?
Answer: Minnesota.

Trivia Question: Black Friday is the biggest day of the year for what trade profession?
Answer: Plumbers.

Trivia Question: Do Americans prefer apple pie or pumpkin pie?
Answer: Apple pie.

Trivia Question: What turkeys actually gobble?
Answer: Male turkeys.

Trivia Question: In what month did the very first Thanksgiving celebration likely take place?
Answer: September.

Witty Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers:

When you run out of conversation topics during Thanksgiving dinner, show your friends and family these fun trivia questions!

Trivia Question: What is the wobbly red piece of flesh on top of the beak of a turkey?
Answer: A snood.

Trivia Question: Where is the only place in Australia where Thanksgiving is celebrated?
Answer: Norfolk Island.

Trivia Question: How many turkeys are prepared for Thanksgiving in America each year?
Answer: About 46 million.

Trivia Question: What percent of Americans skip turkey on Thanksgiving?
Answer: About 12 percent.

Trivia Question: When was the first Turkey Trot?
Answer: 1896.

Trivia Question: Where was the first Turkey Trot?
Answer: Buffalo, New York.

Trivia Question: How do both Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and America’s Thanksgiving Parade conclude?
Answer: With the arrival of Santa Claus.

Trivia Question: What year did the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade first have balloons?
Answer: 1928.

Trivia Question: On average, how many people attend the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade each year?
Answer: About 3.5 million.

Trivia Question: How many people participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade each year?
Answer: About 8,000.

Trivia Question: Black Friday isn’t the only holiday the day after Thanksgiving. What’s the other?
Answer: Native American Heritage Day.

Trivia Question: What are most turkey feathers used for after the turkey is plucked?
Answer: Animal feed.

Trivia Question: How many Americans prefer Thanksgiving leftovers to Thanksgiving dinner?
Answer: About 80 percent.

Trivia Question: Which President declared two Thanksgivings in one year?
Answer: James Madison.

Trivia Question: Which President officially made Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November?
Answer: Franklin D Roosevelt.

Trivia Question: What state consumes the most turkey every Thanksgiving?
Answer: California.

Trivia Question: When did canned cranberries first come about?
Answer: 1912.

Trivia Question: What year was the celebration that is most commonly considered to be the first Thanksgiving?
Answer: 1621.

Trivia Question: What meat is the most popular alternative to turkey on Thanksgiving?
Answer: Ham.

Trivia Question: In what century were the first pumpkin pies as we know them made?
Answer: The 17th century (1600s).

Difficult Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers:

Thanksgiving is underrated! It’s almost as fun as Christmas, so make sure you celebrate it properly. These questions are a great place to start!

Trivia Question: Statistically, what is Americans’ favorite Thanksgiving side dish?
Answer: Stuffing.

Trivia Question: What popular song’s real title is “The New England Boy’s Song About Thanksgiving Day”?
Answer: “Over the River and Through the Woods”.

Trivia Question: According to the Guinness Book of World Records, how much does the heaviest turkey on record weigh?
Answer: 86 pounds.

Trivia Question: Which President received a live raccoon as a Thanksgiving present?
Answer: Calvin Coolidge.

Trivia Question: What Native American tribe celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims?
Answer: The Wampanoag.

Trivia Question: How much does the average Thanksgiving turkey weigh?
Answer: About 15 pounds.

Trivia Question: Who do children in Japan give drawings to on Labor Thanksgiving Day?
Answer: Police stations.

Trivia Question: What are turkey chicks called?
Answer: Pults or turkeylings.

Trivia Question: Which Native American friend to the settlers acted as an interpreter?
Answer: Squanto.

Trivia Question: Which President tried to make Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November to help boost the economy for the holiday season?
Answer: Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Trivia Question: How much did the world’s most expensive Thanksgiving dinner on record cost?
Answer: $150,000 at New York City’s Old Homestead Steakhouse.

Trivia Question: Which President made turkey pardoning an annual event?
Answer: George H.W. Bush.

Trivia Question: Which President made Thanksgiving a national holiday?
Answer: Abraham Lincoln.

Trivia Question: What culture produced the idea of the cornucopia, the horn of plenty?
Answer: Greek culture.

Trivia Question: A religious group that would later be known as the Pilgrims left England to practice their religion freely. Where did they go?
Answer: Leiden, Holland.

Trivia Question: Which President first ordered a national day of Thanksgiving?
Answer: George Washington.

Trivia Question: How many calories on average are consumed, per person, at Thanksgiving dinner?
Answer: 4,500.

Trivia Question: When was the first Thanksgiving football game?
Answer: 1876.

Trivia Question: When was the first Thanksgiving NFL game?
Answer: 1920.

Trivia Question: Who was the first President to receive a ceremonial Thanksgiving Turkey?
Answer: Harry S. Truman.

Extra Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers:

Before turkey day ends, make sure you ask everyone around you these fun questions! They’re great for kids and adults.

Trivia Question: During Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving/harvest festival, they traditionally eat a stuffed food but it isn’t a turkey. What food do Koreans stuff and eat during Chuseok?
Answer: Rice cakes (songpyeon).

Trivia Question: What is the oldest Thanksgiving parade currently called?  Answer: Dunkin’ Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Trivia Question: How many women were at the very first Thanksgiving celebration?
Answer: Five.

Trivia Question: In what decade did both the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and America’s Thanksgiving Parade start?
Answer: The 1920’s (specifically 1924).

Trivia Question: What meats were served at the first Thanksgiving celebrations?
Answer: Venison, swan, duck and goose were likely—not turkey!

Trivia Question: Turkey has more protein than beef or chicken, true or false?
Answer: True. Turkey has higher protein per ounce.

Trivia Question: True or false: eating turkey makes you tired.
Answer: False.

Trivia Question: Turkeys are color blind, true or false? 
Answer: False.

Trivia Question: What was missing from the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
Answer: Balloon.

Trivia Question: If Americans eat about 22 million turkeys at Christmastime, how many turkeys do they eat on Thanksgiving?
Answer: 46 million.

Trivia Question: Which state produces the most turkeys?
Answer: North Carolina.

Trivia Question: Which state grows the most sweet potatoes?
Answer: North Carolina.

Trivia Question: What is the dangling skin under a turkey’s neck called?
Answer: It’s called a wattle.

Trivia Question: How many ridges are there on a 14-ounce can of Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce?
Answer: There are 17 ridges on a 14-ounce can of Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce.

Trivia Question: If male turkeys gobble, then what sounds do the female turkeys make?
Answer: Clicking noises.

Trivia Question: Where did the first official Thanksgiving feast took place?
Answer: In Plymouth Colony.

Trivia Question: What Christmas song was orginally meant to be a Thanksgiving song?
Answer: Jingle Bells.

Trivia Question: What is the name of the book that Governor William Bradford wrote telling of the troubles and experiences of pilgrims?
Answer: “Of Plymouth Plantation”.

Trivia Question: Back in the early 1620’s, the pilgrims celebrated a “Day of Humiliation.” What did they do on that day?
Answer: They prayed and fasted.

Trivia Question: Although the pumpkin is native to North America, the pumpkin pie was actually first made in which country?
Answer: Mexico.

More Fun Trivia Questions and Answers

Below are more quiz questions to stump you and your friends.

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About the author

January Nelson

January Nelson

January Nelson is a writer, editor, and dreamer. She writes about astrology, games, love, relationships, and entertainment. January graduated with an English and Literature degree from Columbia University.