80 Thanksgiving Fact or Fiction Game That Might Surprise You

Did Thanksgiving actually originate in the 1500s? Did Americans always celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November?

There are plenty of Thanksgiving facts that sound true but aren’t quite what they seem, and some real facts are even more surprising.

Test your Thanksgiving knowledge with 80 fun Fact or Fiction questions andsee how many surprising facts you can uncover.

This Thanksgiving trivia game is great for:

• Thanksgiving family gatherings

• Friendsgiving parties

• Classroom activities

• Game nights with kids, teens, and adults

Get a free Thanksgiving game bundle at the end of this post, including popular games like Thanksgiving Taboo words.

Thanksgiving History — Fact or Fiction?

1. The 1621 Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.

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FACT. The harvest celebration lasted three days.

2. The people at the 1621 feast called it “Thanksgiving.”

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FICTION. Historians generally describe it as a harvest celebration or feast.

3. The Pilgrims and Wampanoag ate very different foods from today’s Thanksgiving dinner.

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FACT. Their meal included foods like venison, corn, wild fowl, seafood and local vegetables.

4. The Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in America in 1621.

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FICTION. Earlier Thanksgiving celebrations took place in Virginia in 1610 and Maine in 1607.

5. Potatoes were part of the 1621 Thanksgiving meal.

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FICTION.

6. George Washington declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1789.

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FICTION. He proclaimed a day of thanksgiving in 1789, but it was not a permanent national holiday.

7. Who spent years campaigning for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday?

A. Abigail Adams B. Sarah Josepha Hale C. Martha Washington D. Harriet Beecher Stowe

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B. Sarah Josepha Hale

8. Breaking wishbone is a tradition older than the United States.

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FACT. Turkey wishbones were once used for fortune-telling.

9. Thanksgiving has always been on the fourth Thursday of November.

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FICTION. The fourth Thursday was made official by legislation signed in 1941 by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

10. In 1863, Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of Thanksgiving.

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FACT.

11. Which one was NOT likely served at the 1621 Plymouth harvest celebration?

A. Venison B. Wild fowl C. Seafood D. Pumpkin pie

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D. Pumpkin pie

12. Before the date was fixed nationally, states celebrated Thanksgiving on different days.

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FACT.

13. Franklin D. Roosevelt once moved Thanksgiving earlier to help extend the Christmas shopping season.

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FACT.

14. The familiar Pilgrim look with black clothes, tall hats and buckled shoes is historically accurate.

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FICTION. It was largely shaped by later artists and popular culture.

15. The 1621 celebration was the first harvest feast shared by Europeans and Native Americans.

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FICTION. Earlier European-Native gatherings existed.

Thanksgiving Food Fact or Fiction Quiz

16. Wild turkeys can fly.

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FACT.

17. Turkeys raised for Thanksgiving can fly just as well as wild turkeys.

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FICTION. Most domestic turkeys are too heavy to fly well.

18. Turkey is the only food at Thanksgiving that contains tryptophan.

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FICTION. Foods like eggs, cheese, milk and chicken also contain tryptophan.

19. Eating turkey is the main reason people feel sleepy after Thanksgiving dinner.

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FICTION. The large meal itself is a bigger reason for that post-dinner slump.

20. Which state produces the most cranberries in the U.S.?

A. Massachusetts B. Wisconsin C. Oregon D. New Jersey

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B. Wisconsin.

21. Green bean casserole was created in 1955.

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FACT. Dorcas Reilly created the dish in 1955.

22. All 50 US states grow pumpkins.

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FACT.

23. Iowa and Illinois are America’s top corn-producing states.

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FACT.

24. The U.S. grows more than 1 billion pounds of pumpkins each year.

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FACT.

25. More than 45 million turkeys are eaten on Thanksgiving.

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FACT. An estimate of more than 45 million turkeys eaten on Thanksgiving, as per USDA.

26. Which one is the odd one out?

A. Sweet potato B. Tomato C. Pumpkin D. Cranberries

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B. Tomato, as this is primarily a summer crop.

27. A Thanksgiving dinner for 10 costs more than $100 on average.

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FICTION. The 2025 Farm Bureau estimate was about $55 for 10.

28. Cranberries naturally float in water.

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FACT. They have air chambers that allow them to float.

29. Sweet potatoes are related to regular potatoes.

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FICTION. Sweet potatoes belong to the morning glory family, not the potato family.FACT.

30. Sweet potatoes and yams are the same vegetable.

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FICTION. Yams and sweet potatoes are different plants.

Thanksgiving Movies and TV Fact or Fiction Quiz

31. Sitcom How I Met Your Mother turned Thanksgiving into ‘Slapsgiving.’

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FACT. The Season 3 Thanksgiving episode.

32. Lorelai and Rory attend four Thanksgiving dinners in one episode of Gilmore Girls.

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FACT. Season 3, Episode 9

33. Modern Family had a Thanksgiving episode involving a pumpkin-launching contest.

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FACT. Season 3, Episode 9

34. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is centered around a man’s attempt to get home for Thanksgiving.

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FACT.

36. Miracle on 34th Street begins with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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FACT.

37. Which Friends character famously appeared in a Thanksgiving episode with a turkey stuck on their head?

A. Ross B. Chandler C. Joey D. Monica

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C. Joey.

38. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving won an Emmy Award.

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FACT. Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children’s Programming in 1974.

39. A Thanksgiving dinner plays an important role in revealing Peter Parker’s identity in Spider-Man (2002).

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FACT. During Thanksgiving dinner, Norman notices Peter’s injury and connects it to Spider-Man.

40. Home for the Holidays takes place around Thanksgiving rather than Christmas

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FACT.

41. Addams Family Values features a Thanksgiving pageant that goes spectacularly off script.

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FACT.

42. The audience at the film The Last Waltz was served Thanksgiving dinner before the concert.

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FACT.

43. The Gold Rush features Charlie Chaplin serving a Thanksgiving dinner made from a shoe.

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FACT.

Thanksgiving Football Fact or Fiction

44. The NFL has played games on Thanksgiving since 1920.

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FACT.

45. The Detroit Lions started their Thanksgiving tradition in 1934.

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FACT. The Lions played their first Thanksgiving game against the Chicago Bears in 1934.

46. The Lions have played on Thanksgiving every year since 1934.

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FICTION. There was a six-season gap from 1939 to 1944.

47. The Dallas Cowboys began their Thanksgiving tradition in 1966.

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FACT. Dallas began playing on Thanksgiving in 1966.

48. Detroit and Dallas have been the only teams to host Thanksgiving games since 1934.

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FICTION. They became the traditional hosts, but other cities have also hosted Thanksgiving games.

49. Pick the odd one out

A. Detroit Lions B. Dallas Cowboys C. Chicago Bears D. New York Yankees

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D. New York Yankees.

50. The most rushing yards ever recorded in an NFL Thanksgiving game is 273.

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FACT. O.J. Simpson against Detroit in 1976.

51. The NFL’s third Thanksgiving game was added in 1996.

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FICTION. It was added in 2006.

52. Who holds the record for the most passing yards in a single NFL Thanksgiving game?

A. Troy Aikman B. Peyton Manning C. Brett Favre D. Dan Marino

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A. Troy Aikman, 455 yards for Dallas against Minnesota in 1998.

53. A player once scored six touchdowns in a Thanksgiving NFL game.

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FACT. Chicago Cardinals star Ernie Nevers against the Bears in 1929.

54. The first nationally televised Thanksgiving NFL game was played in 1956.

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FACT. The Packers defeated the Lions 24–20.

55. The 1934 Thanksgiving NFL game was broadcast nationally on radio.

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FACT. In1934 Bears-Lions game broadcast nationally.

Weird & Surprising Thanksgiving Facts

56. One old Thanksgiving tradition involved children marching through the streets making noise with tin horns.

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FACT.

57. Early Thanksgiving ‘turkey trots’ sometimes involved catching real turkeys.

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FACT.

58. The turkey trot was once a popular ballroom dance.

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FACT. The Turkey Trot was a popular early-1900s dance inspired by the turkey’s short, jerky steps.

59. Thanksgiving was once associated with a dish called chicken pie.

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FACT. Chicken pie was once a Thanksgiving tradition, particularly in parts of the South and Midwest.

60. Thanksgiving leftovers helped inspire one of America’s most famous convenience foods.

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FACT. Swanson’s famous frozen turkey dinners grew out of a huge surplus of Thanksgiving turkey in 1953.

61. A Thanksgiving turkey once received a trip to Disney World.

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FACT. In 2007, two pardoned turkeys were sent to Walt Disney World.

62. Cranberries were once called ‘bearberries.‘

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FACT. In the 1600s, cranberries were also called “bearberries” because bears were often seen eating them.

63. The turkey became part of Thanksgiving culture because it was a large bird that could feed a crowd.

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FACT.

64. Thanksgiving celebrations once included athletic competitions.

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FACT. The 1621 celebration included athletic contests and military exercises.

65. What unusual animal was sent to President Calvin Coolidge as a Thanksgiving gift?

A. Raccoon B. Possum C. Fox D. Skunk

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A. Raccoon.

Fact or Myth Thanksgiving traditions

66. George H. W. Bush officially began the presidential turkey-pardoning tradition in 1989.

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FACT.

67. The person who gets the larger piece of the wishbone is traditionally considered the winner.

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FACT. Two people pull the dried wishbone, and one with the larger piece gets the wish.

68. ‘Friendsgiving’ is an old Thanksgiving tradition dating back to the 1800s.

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FICTION. The earliest known uses of Friendsgiving dates to 2007.

69. The National Dog Show has been broadcast on Thanksgiving Day since 2002.

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FACT. NBC began televising the show on Thanksgiving in 2002.

70. Thanksgiving is the busiest U.S. holiday for travel.

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FACT. AAA describes Thanksgiving as the busiest holiday for travel.

71. Black Friday got its name because stores finally ‘went into the black‘ after Thanksgiving.

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FICTION. The term ‘Black Friday‘ is linked to Philadelphia police describing the traffic and chaos the day after Thanksgiving.

72. The term “Black Friday” was originally used for a financial crisis unrelated to Thanksgiving.

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FACT. The first recorded use referred to the 1869 U.S. gold-market crash.

73. A cornucopia is an ancient symbol of abundance, not something invented for Thanksgiving.

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FACT. The cornucopia appears in ancient Greek and Roman mythology as a symbol of abundance and nourishment.

74. The tradition of breaking the wishbone is older than Thanksgiving itself.

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FACT. The wishbone tradition has roots in ancient European customs.

Thanksgiving Around the World — Fact or Fiction?

75. Canada and the United States celebrate Thanksgiving on the same day.

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FICTION. Canada celebrates in October.

76. South Korea has a harvest holiday often called Korean Thanksgiving.

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FACT. Chuseok is a major Korean holiday when families honor their ancestors.

77. Liberia celebrates its own National Thanksgiving Day in November.

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FACT.

78. England has a harvest tradition in which people bring food and fresh produce to church.

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FACT.

79. Japan’s Labor Thanksgiving Day is simply a Japanese version of America’s turkey dinner.

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FICTION. Japan’s holiday centers on honoring labor, with historical roots in harvest rituals.

80. India’s Pongal is a four-day harvest festival that honors nature the Sun and cattle.

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FACT.

More Thanksgiving Games and Activities

Thanksgiving Guess the Price: A fun party game where everyone tries to guess the prices of Thanksgiving feast staples!

Thanksgiving Worst Advice Ever: Play this hilarious game of Thanksgiving bad advice for tacking equally horrible situations!

Thanksgiving Would you Rather: 90 hilarious and silly “Would You Rather” questions the whole family will love answering!

Thanksgiving Family-friendly Movies: Keep the holiday spirit going with these cozy movies to watch with the whole crew.