Thanksgiving quiz

Massachusetts

Fun fact: The 1621 harvest feast was held by the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people in Plymouth, in what is now Massachusetts.

Corn

Fun fact: Corn was the key crop of the 1621 harvest, grown with the help of the Wampanoag. Barley and peas were harvested too.

• Received a live raccoon for a Thanksgiving present → Calvin Coolidge
• Celebrated 2 Thanksgivings in one year → James Madison
• Declared Thanksgiving a national holiday → Abraham Lincoln
• Refused to celebrate Thanksgiving as a holiday → Thomas Jefferson

Fun fact: Coolidge was sent a raccoon called Rebecca in 1926, and Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving in 1863. Jefferson declined to proclaim thanksgivings, which he thought went against the separation of church and state. Madison issued thanksgiving proclamations during and after the War of 1812, though sources differ on how many he issued in a single year.

Yale & Princeton

Fun fact: Yale and Princeton met on Thanksgiving Day 1876 in the first of the college championship games that made football a Thanksgiving habit.

Macy's

Fun fact: The first Macy's parade in 1924 featured live zoo animals. The giant balloons arrived in 1927.

Pumpkin pie

Also accepted: Pumkin pie

Fun fact: Pumpkin pie became a Thanksgiving staple in the 1800s, helped along by magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale, who campaigned for a national holiday.

Cranberry sauce

Also accepted: Cranbery sauce

Fun fact: Cranberries are native to North America and one of the few fruits first cultivated there.

Creamed corn

Also accepted: Corn

Fun fact: Corn side dishes are a nod to the crop that fed the Plymouth colony.

Stuffing

Also accepted: Thanksgiving stuffing

Fun fact: Stuffing (also called dressing) is bread cooked with onion, celery and herbs. It is eaten with the turkey at most Thanksgiving tables.

Candied yams

Also accepted: Yams, Sweet potatoes, Candied sweet potatoes, Yam casserole, Sweet potato casserole

Fun fact: In the United States 'yams' are usually orange sweet potatoes. True yams are a different, starchier vegetable.

Harvest

Fun fact: A harvest festival is the oldest root of Thanksgiving, with versions in many cultures.

Thankful

Fun fact: Giving thanks is the point of the day, and many families go round the table saying what they are thankful for.

Pumpkin pie

Fun fact: Pumpkin pie is one of the most traditional Thanksgiving desserts in the United States.

Cranberry

Fun fact: Cranberries grow on low vines in bogs that are flooded for harvest.

Cornucopia

Also accepted: Cornacopia, Cornocopia

Fun fact: The cornucopia, or horn of plenty, is a basket shaped like a horn and overflowing with food, a symbol of abundance.

Friends

Also accepted: F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Fun fact: Friends ran from 1994 to 2004 and is famous for its Thanksgiving episodes.

Bob's Burgers

Also accepted: Bobs Burgers, Bobs Burger

Fun fact: Bob's Burgers is an animated sitcom about a family-run burger restaurant. It began in 2011.

Gossip Girl

Fun fact: Gossip Girl, based on the book series by Cecily von Ziegesar, first aired in 2007.

The Office

Also accepted: Office, The American Office, American Office, The Office US

Fun fact: The US version of The Office ran from 2005 to 2013 and was adapted from the British series.

Modern Family

Fun fact: Modern Family ran from 2009 to 2020 and won five Emmys in a row for outstanding comedy series.