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Seven days of questions and answers

Thanksgiving Trivia Answers Archive

Review earlier daily rounds, reveal the correct answer, and use the short explanation to learn the fact behind each question. Page 3 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

  1. Which country celebrates Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November and traces the holiday to a 1969 decision by the late president to rename the National Day?

    Answer: Liberia

    Liberia celebrates Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November, a tradition originating from the country's founding by freed American slaves who adapted the American holiday.

  2. Which crop is typically associated with harvest festivals in the American South, where Thanksgiving celebrations may include dishes like pecan pie and sweet potato casserole?

    Answer: Pecans

    Pecans are a signature crop of the American South and a key ingredient in many Southern Thanksgiving dishes, including the classic pecan pie made with the region's abundant harvest.

  3. Homaro Cantu, a Chicago-based chef, gained attention for making a Thanksgiving turkey dish from what unconventional source?

    Answer: Insects

    Chef Homaro Cantu experimented with creating turkey-flavored dishes from insects like grasshoppers as part of his innovative approach to sustainable and alternative protein sources.

  4. What is a turducken?

    Answer: A turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken

    A turducken is a layered dish where a deboned chicken is placed inside a deboned duck, which is then placed inside a deboned turkey and roasted as one piece.

  5. How much whole turkey per person is commonly recommended when planning a Thanksgiving meal?

    Answer: One and a half pounds per person

    The general guideline is to plan for one to one and a half pounds of whole turkey per person, which accounts for bone weight and provides reasonable portions plus leftovers.

Daily round

  1. English explorer Martin Frobisher is associated with early Canadian thanksgiving observances in which century?

    Answer: Sixteenth century

    In 1578, Martin Frobisher held a formal thanksgiving ceremony in what is now Nunavut after surviving a difficult Arctic voyage, making it one of the earliest recorded thanksgiving observances in North America.

  2. Which herb is most traditionally paired with roasted turkey in American Thanksgiving cooking?

    Answer: Sage

    Sage has a long association with poultry stuffing and turkey in American cooking, its earthy, slightly peppery flavor complementing the mildness of turkey meat in a way that became standard over centuries of tradition.

  3. Which country celebrates Homowo, a traditional harvest festival of thanksgiving that involves sprinkling kpokpoi to honor ancestors and mark the end of a famine?

    Answer: Ghana

    Homowo is a harvest festival celebrated by the Ga people of Ghana's Greater Accra region, commemorating a historical famine and giving thanks through traditional food offerings and ceremonies.

  4. Which of the following best describes the original purpose of the 1621 Plymouth gathering as recorded by the colonists themselves?

    Answer: A harvest celebration

    Edward Winslow's 1621 letter describes the gathering as a harvest celebration following a successful growing season, rather than a formal religious service or political event.

  5. In which European country is Erntedankfest, a harvest thanksgiving festival with church services, parades, and harvest displays, traditionally celebrated?

    Answer: Germany

    Erntedankfest is a traditional German harvest thanksgiving festival, typically observed in October with church services, processions, and displays of the season's crops.

Daily round

  1. What is the main nutritional characteristic that distinguishes dark meat from white meat in turkey?

    Answer: Dark meat has a higher myoglobin content from active muscles, giving it more iron and a darker color

    Turkeys use their legs and thighs more actively than their breast, resulting in higher concentrations of myoglobin—an oxygen-storing protein—in those muscles, which gives dark meat its color, richer flavor, and slightly higher iron content.

  2. Which president's 1863 proclamation is widely credited with establishing Thanksgiving as a regular annual U.S. holiday?

    Answer: Abraham Lincoln

    Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving proclamation in October 1863, during the Civil War, designating the last Thursday of November as a national day of gratitude.

  3. Which grain, commonly associated with harvest meals, was a dietary staple of the Wampanoag people long before European settlers arrived in New England?

    Answer: Corn

    Corn was a foundational crop for the Wampanoag and other Indigenous peoples of the Northeast, cultivated for food and used in numerous traditional dishes well before the arrival of European colonists.

  4. What is a common food-safety reason to avoid washing a raw whole turkey before cooking?

    Answer: It can splash bacteria-laden water across kitchen surfaces

    Rinsing a raw turkey under the tap can cause bacteria on the surface to aerosolize and spread via splashing up to three feet around the sink, contaminating countertops, utensils, and other foods.

  5. In the United States, Thanksgiving has been recognized as a federal legal public holiday since which decade?

    Answer: 1940s

    Thanksgiving became an official federal legal public holiday when Congress codified it into law in 1941 as part of the resolution that fixed its date to the fourth Thursday of November.

Daily round

  1. Cranberries are one of the few major commercial fruits native to which continent?

    Answer: North America

    The American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) is native to North America and was used by Indigenous peoples long before European settlers incorporated it into harvest feasts.

  2. Which of these vegetables belongs to the same botanical family as pumpkins and butternut squash?

    Answer: Zucchini

    Pumpkins, butternut squash, and zucchini are all members of the Cucurbitaceae family (the gourd family), while sweet potatoes, turnips, and parsnips belong to entirely different plant families.

  3. Who campaigned for decades through editorials and letters to make Thanksgiving a U.S. national holiday before Lincoln's 1863 proclamation?

    Answer: Sarah Josepha Hale

    Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book, wrote editorials and lobbied presidents and governors for 36 years to establish Thanksgiving as a unified national holiday.

  4. Which method is considered safe for thawing a frozen turkey?

    Answer: Thawing in the refrigerator

    The USDA recommends thawing a frozen turkey in the refrigerator, allowing roughly 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds of bird, because it keeps the turkey at a safe temperature throughout.

  5. In which New England state is the town of Plymouth, a common historical reference point in American Thanksgiving narratives, located?

    Answer: Massachusetts

    Plymouth, Massachusetts, was the site of the 1620 Pilgrim settlement and is referenced in many American Thanksgiving traditions, including Plymouth Rock as a symbolic landing spot.

Daily round

  1. According to primary source accounts, approximately how many Wampanoag guests attended the 1621 Plymouth harvest gathering?

    Answer: About 90

    Edward Winslow's firsthand account describes approximately 90 Wampanoag men, including their leader Massasoit, joining the colonists for the multi-day feast.

  2. What temperature range is known as the food-safety "danger zone" where bacteria multiply most rapidly?

    Answer: 40°F to 140°F (4°C to 60°C)

    The danger zone between 40°F and 140°F is the range in which harmful bacteria can double in number in as little as 20 minutes, so perishable foods should not remain in this range for more than two hours.

  3. In the United States, Thanksgiving has been recognized as a federal legal public holiday since which decade?

    Answer: 1940s

    Thanksgiving became an official federal legal public holiday when Congress codified it into law in 1941 as part of the resolution that fixed its date to the fourth Thursday of November.

  4. What is the primary difference between a sweet potato and a true yam?

    Answer: Sweet potatoes are a root in the morning glory family while yams belong to the Dioscorea family

    Despite the interchangeable use of the names in American grocery stores, sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) and true yams (Dioscorea species) are entirely different plants from separate botanical families.

  5. How does the Canadian Thanksgiving tradition differ most distinctly from the American tradition in terms of its historical framing?

    Answer: Canadian Thanksgiving focuses less on a single founding narrative

    Unlike the American tradition, which is closely tied to the 1621 Plymouth narrative, Canadian Thanksgiving draws from multiple historical observances without centering on a single founding event.

Daily round

  1. Which of these vegetables belongs to the same botanical family as pumpkins and butternut squash?

    Answer: Zucchini

    Pumpkins, butternut squash, and zucchini are all members of the Cucurbitaceae family (the gourd family), while sweet potatoes, turnips, and parsnips belong to entirely different plant families.

  2. What was the primary economic rationale Franklin D. Roosevelt gave for moving Thanksgiving earlier in 1939?

    Answer: To extend the holiday shopping season

    Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November to give retailers a longer holiday shopping period, hoping to stimulate the economy during the Great Depression.

  3. What is the difference between stock and broth when making Thanksgiving gravy?

    Answer: Stock is simmered with bones for a longer time and has a richer mouthfeel, while broth is made with meat and is lighter

    Stock is made by simmering bones (often roasted) for several hours, extracting collagen that gives it a fuller body when cooled, while broth is made with meat and has a lighter, more directly seasoned flavor.

  4. English explorer Martin Frobisher is associated with early Canadian thanksgiving observances in which century?

    Answer: Sixteenth century

    In 1578, Martin Frobisher held a formal thanksgiving ceremony in what is now Nunavut after surviving a difficult Arctic voyage, making it one of the earliest recorded thanksgiving observances in North America.

  5. What was the popular nickname given to the rescheduled Thanksgiving holiday of 1939?

    Answer: Franksgiving

    Critics of Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1939 Thanksgiving date change mockingly dubbed it "Franksgiving," blending the president's first name with the holiday.

Daily round

  1. Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving proclamation designated the holiday for which specific Thursday of November?

    Answer: The last Thursday

    Lincoln's proclamation designated the last Thursday of November as the day of national thanksgiving, which at the time could fall on either the fourth or fifth Thursday depending on the calendar.

  2. Which compound in turkey is often incorrectly blamed for causing post-meal drowsiness?

    Answer: Tryptophan

    Although turkey contains tryptophan—an amino acid the body uses to produce serotonin and then melatonin—the drowsiness after a large Thanksgiving meal is more likely caused by the general caloric load, carbohydrates, and alcohol than by tryptophan alone, as many other foods contain comparable or higher amounts.

  3. Which of the following best describes the shared civic purpose of Thanksgiving proclamations in both the United States and Canada?

    Answer: Declaring a day of national gratitude and reflection

    Thanksgiving proclamations in both nations have historically served to set aside a day for collective gratitude and reflection, inviting citizens to give thanks for blessings and prosperity.

  4. What proportion of wild turkeys in North America were estimated to remain by the early 20th century before conservation efforts restored their populations?

    Answer: Around 30%

    Wild turkey populations had declined to roughly 30,000 birds, about 30% of their original estimated range, by the early 1900s before habitat restoration and regulated hunting brought them back to millions.

  5. Which Thanksgiving parade, held in a major Midwestern city, features giant character balloons, floats, and marching bands and is broadcast nationally each year?

    Answer: Chicago Thanksgiving Parade

    The Chicago Thanksgiving Parade, first held in 1934 and now called the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade, is one of the largest Thanksgiving parades in the United States, broadcast nationally each year.