Thanksgiving Trivia Quiz: Can You Get 22 Out of 22? – Turkey, Cranberries, Presidents and a Few Very Strange Traditions

Early European settlers called the fruit “craneberry,” a name linked to the plant’s resemblance to the head and neck of a crane. Over time, “craneberry” became “cranberry.”

Edward Winslow’s eyewitness account mentions men going fowling and the Wampanoag bringing five deer. Venison and wildfowl are the two foods specifically identified in that surviving account.

The wishbone is the furcula, formed from two fused clavicles. The structure is important in bird anatomy and is also found in fossils of some dinosaurs.

McCormick’s classic Pumpkin Pie Spice combines cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Despite the name, there is no pumpkin in the spice blend.

Earlier presidents had spared Thanksgiving turkeys, but George H.W. Bush used the words “presidential pardon” in 1989 and the pardon became an annual White House tradition.

Wild turkeys can swim when necessary. They tuck their wings close to their bodies, spread their tails and kick through the water.

Sarah Josepha Hale wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and campaigned for a national Thanksgiving holiday for decades before Abraham Lincoln issued his 1863 proclamation.

Campbell Test Kitchen manager Dorcas Reilly created green bean casserole in 1955. It went on to become one of the most familiar Thanksgiving side dishes in the United States.

Benjamin Franklin used the phrase in a 1784 letter to his daughter while comparing the turkey favorably with the bald eagle. He did not formally propose replacing the eagle with the turkey as America’s national bird.

The USDA recommends using or freezing refrigerated Thanksgiving leftovers within four days and specifically suggests using the Monday after Thanksgiving as an easy reminder.

According to the widely accepted story, Swanson was left with roughly 260 tons of frozen turkey after Thanksgiving. The solution helped inspire its frozen TV dinner, which reached consumers in 1954.

Some early balloons were released after the parade with return information and rewards attached. The experiment produced several mishaps, and the release practice eventually ended.

Turkey does contain tryptophan, but so do many other foods. A normal serving is not enough to explain the classic Thanksgiving crash by itself; the size and composition of the whole meal are more relevant.

The animal was a raccoon sent from Mississippi with the suggestion that it be served for Thanksgiving dinner. The Coolidges adopted her instead and named her Rebecca.

Cranberries grow on low vines rather than underwater. During wet harvesting, growers flood the beds and dislodge the berries; tiny air pockets inside the fruit help them float.

Thanksgiving fell unusually late in 1939, and retailers worried about the shorter shopping period before Christmas. Roosevelt moved the federal observance forward by one week.

Norfolk Island developed a Thanksgiving tradition through historical connections with American whalers. The holiday is still observed there on the last Wednesday in November.

Archaeological evidence shows that turkey domestication occurred independently in central Mexico and in what is now the southwestern United States.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, New York had a custom often called Thanksgiving masking or Ragamuffin Day. Children dressed up and sometimes asked adults for pennies, fruit or treats.

Knives and spoons were used, but forks were not part of the table setting at the 1621 harvest celebration.

Twenty-three states observed November 23, another 23 observed November 30, and Texas and Colorado declared both Thursdays holidays.

Macy’s is celebrating its 100th Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2026. The parade began in 1924 but was suspended from 1942 through 1944 during World War II.