Bone up on your Thanksgiving trivia
Everyone knows Thanksgiving means turkey and stuffing, football games, family gatherings and pumpkin pie.
And, of course, it all started with the Pilgrims. But how much do we really know about this most American of holidays? Take this Thanksgiving trivia quiz to find out:
1. What year was the first Thanksgiving celebrated in what is now the United States?
a) 1492
b) 1621
c) 1776
d) 1865
2. Who was one of the people who attended the first Thanksgiving feast?
a) John Smith
b) Pocahontas
c) William Bradford
d) Andrew Jackson
3. What food definitely was served when the Pilgrims feasted?
a) turkey
b) venison
c) roast pig
d) cranberries
4. Which Indian tribe joined the Pilgrims at that first feast?
a) Iroquois
b) Algonquin
c) Wampanoag
d) Potawatomi
5. How long did the first American Thanksgiving celebration last?
a) one day
b) three days
c) one week
d) one month
6. What famous American believed that the turkey, rather than the bald eagle, should be America's national bird?
a) Thomas Jefferson
b) Benjamin Franklin
c) Henry David Thoreau
d) Theodore Roosevelt
7. Which president issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation?
a) George Washington
b) John Adams
c) Abraham Lincoln
d) Woodrow Wilson
8. Which president was the first to pardon a turkey?
a) Abraham Lincoln
b) Harry Truman
c) John F. Kennedy
d) Bill Clinton
9. What woman helped establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday?
a) Abigail Adams
b) Betsy Ross
c) Harriet Beecher Stowe
d) Sarah Josepha Hale
10. How many feathers does a mature turkey have?
a) 1,000
b) 3,500
c) 10,000
d) 1 million
11. What food is not native to America?
a) turkey
b) pumpkins
c) corn
d) apples
12. What percentage of American families eats turkey for Thanksgiving?
a) 90 percent
b) 75 percent
c) 60 percent
d) 55 percent
13. How much did the heaviest turkey ever raised weigh?
a) 50 pounds
b) 66 pounds
c) 86 pounds
d) 105 pounds
14. How fast can turkeys fly?
a) 20 mph
b) 40 mph
c) 55 mph
d) turkeys can't fly
15. What sound does a female turkey make?
a) gobble, gobble
b) click, click
c) coo, coo
d) male turkeys rule the roost and the females remain silent
16. The wild turkey is native to what area of the world?
a) northern Mexico and eastern United States
b) Canada
c) northern Europe
d) China
17. Illinois is the top producer of what food associated with Thanksgiving?
a) corn
b) turkey
c) pumpkins
d) sweet potatoes
18. In what country is the most turkey consumed per capita?
a) United States
b) Great Britain
c) Spain
d) Israel
19. Since what year has football been associated with Thanksgiving?
a) 1874
b) 1900
c) 1934
d) 1952
20. Some American Indians mark Thanksgiving with a National Day of Mourning. What was the first year it was held?
a) 1750
b) 1890
c) 1970
d) 1985
Answers to Thanksgiving quiz
1. What year was the first Thanksgiving celebrated in what is now the United States?
b) The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 by Plymouth Colony to commemorate the harvest after a harsh winter. It was a traditional English harvest feast.
2. Who was one of the people who attended the first Thanksgiving feast?
c) William Bradford, the governor of Plymouth Colony, proclaimed the thanksgiving feast and was one of 53 Pilgrims who attended.
3. What food definitely was served when the Pilgrims feasted?
b) The only specific food recorded was the five deer brought by the Indians. Wild turkey was plentiful and may have been served.
4. Which Indian tribe joined the Pilgrims at that first feast?
c) About 90 Wampanoag Indians attended.
5. How long did the first American Thanksgiving celebration last?
b) The celebration lasted three days.
6. What famous American believed that the turkey, rather than the bald eagle, should be America's national bird?
b) Comparing the turkey to the eagle, Benjamin Franklin wrote, "The turkey is a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America."
7. Which president issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation?
a) George Washington issued the first Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789.
8. Which president was the first to pardon a turkey?
a) Abraham Lincoln's son, Tad, had befriended a turkey named Jack that Lincoln pardoned to save him from becoming the White House Christmas dinner. The pardoning of a Thanksgiving turkey became a presidential tradition in 1947 with Harry Truman.
9. What woman helped establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday?
d) Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the widely read Godey's Lady's Book, crusaded for years to establish a national Thanksgiving day, rather than have individual states celebrate their own. Hale's campaign bore fruit when Abraham Lincoln issued Thanksgiving proclamations in 1863 and 1864. Every president since has issued annual proclamations. Hale, by the way, also wrote a book of children's poetry that included "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
10. How many feathers does a mature turkey have?
b) Mature turkeys have 3,500 feathers.
11. What food is not native to America?
d) Apples are not native to North America.
12. What percentage of American families eats turkey for Thanksgiving?
a) Ninety percent is the most commonly cited figure.
13. How much did the heaviest turkey ever raised weigh?
c) The heaviest turkey ever raised weighed 86 pounds.
14. How fast can turkeys fly?
Trick question. Wild turkeys can fly up to 55 mph for short distances. Domesticated turkeys are bred to have such heavy breasts they cannot fly -- or mate.
15. What sound does a female turkey make?
b) The male turkeys are the gobblers.
16. The wild turkey is native to what area of the world?
a) This native bird first was domesticated in Mexico and Central America. Spain imported it to Europe, where it was considered a dish fit for kings. Early settlers in the American colonies found an abundance of turkeys.
17. Illinois is the top producer of what food associated with Thanksgiving?
c) Illinois is the top pumpkin producer.
18. In what country is the most turkey consumed per capita?
d) Israel, where annual consumption is 28 pounds per person.
19. Since what year has football been associated with Thanksgiving?
a) The first intercollegiate football game was played on Thanksgiving Day in 1874. By the 1890s, colleges, high schools and clubs were taking part in Thanksgiving football games. The NFL tradition is often associated with the 1934 game played between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. The Bears won, but playing football on Thanksgiving Day became firmly established in Detroit, where it continues today.
20. Some American Indians mark Thanksgiving with a National Day of Mourning. What was the first year it was held?
c) The National Day of Mourning started in 1970 when a Wampanoag leader delivered a speech on Coles Hill, overlooking Plymouth Rock.