Thanksgiving Trivia Quiz Q: What Na ve American tribe helped the Pilgrims survive the first harsh winter by teaching them to fish and cul vate crops? A: The Wampanoag tribe (pronounced WOMP-ah-nog) helped the Pilgrims by teaching them to fish and cul vate indigenous crops. Today, the tribe’s descendants live on their reserva on on Martha’s Vineyard. Q: When and where did the first Thanksgiving take place? A: Most historians believe it was in 1621 in Plymouth Colony in an area that later became Massachuse s. Q: Which of the following ships carried the Pilgrims to America: the Nina, the Pinta, “Old Iron Sides,” the Mayflower, or the Santa Maria? A: The Mayflower brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock a er a 66-day voyage over the Atlan c. Q: What is the official day for Thanksgiving in the U.S.? A: The fourth Thursday in November.
Q: Which ea ng utensil was NOT used by the Pilgrims: knives, forks, spoons, or their fingers? A: Forks. Pilgrims did not have forks but ea ng with their fingers was quite acceptable. Q: True or false: the Pilgrims wore mainly black and white clothes and dressed very somberly? A: False. While black and white were worn on Sundays, at other mes the Pilgrims’ clothes included a lot of color. Women wore red, green, brown, blue, violet, and gray, and men wore green, brown, and beige. Q: Which of America’s Founding Fathers argued that the wild turkey — rather than the bald eagle — should be the na onal bird of the United States? A: Benjamin Franklin. He felt the turkey was “a much more respectable bird...a true original na ve of America...and though a li le vain and silly, a bird of courage.”
Q: Which president declared the final Thursday in November as a na onal day of Thanksgiving? A: Although other presidents (including George Washington and John Adams) had called for a na onal day of thanksgiving when circumstances called for it, it was Abraham Lincoln who made it an annual na onal observance. In 1939 Franklin Roosevelt changed it to the fourth Thursday in November, and Congress made it an official na onal holiday in 1941.
Q: How much did the world’s biggest pumpkin pie weigh? A: According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie weighed 3,699 pounds and measured 20 feet across by 3 inches deep. Baked on September 25, 2010 by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers at the New Bremen Pumpkinfest in Ohio, ingredients included 187 cans of pumpkin, 2,796 eggs, 109 gallons of evaporated milk, 525 pounds of sugar, 7 pounds of salt, 14.5 pounds of cinnamon, 3 pounds of pumpkin pie spice, and 440 sheets of dough.
Q: What year was the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? A: 1924. Today the parade travels 2.5 miles down the streets of Manha an to the delight of the 3.5 million people lining the streets. Another 50 million households across the U.S. watch the parade on TV.
Q: True or false: turkeys are slow moving birds and cannot fly? A: This may be true for domes cated turkeys that are bought for Thanksgiving dinner, but their wild counterparts can run at speeds up to 25 miles per hour and fly for short distances at nearly 55 miles per hour.
Q: Which of the following was NOT included on the menu at the first Thanksgiving: venison, wild fowl, lobster, nuts, pumpkin pie, seal, le uce, grapes, swan, or seafood? A: Pumpkin pie. The Pilgrims lacked two necessary items needed to make pie: sugar (they didn’t have any le a er the voyage), and ovens to bake them in. There are records of Pilgrims stewing pumpkins, but not baking pies.
Q: True or false: ea ng turkey can make you sleepy? A: It’s possible. Turkey contains tryptophan, a natural seda ve. But since a lot of other foods contain tryptophan as well, if you feel sleepy a er a big Thanksgiving dinner the real cause might be the combina on of fats and carbohydrates in all those yummy side dishes along with the amounts of food (and some mes alcohol) you may have consumed.
