I’m still full and lazy from yesterday. Maybe you are, too. Sit back and enjoy the feeling. But so you don’t feel you’re wasting time, pretend you’re learning something worthwhile as you read through this thanksgiving trivia quiz (shortened from http://www.you-can-be-funny.com/Thanksgiving-Trivia-Questions.html).
According to popular legend, where did the male “tom” turkey get its name?
Benjamin Franklin named it after Thomas Jefferson rejected the turkey as the national bird.
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At the first thanksgiving, were there more Pilgrims or Indians enjoying the meal?
Indians. Over 50% of the Pilgrims had died.
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By the 19th century, celebrating Thanksgiving is said to have been the origin of what table tradition?
The kiddie table.
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Captain John Smith founded what colony in Virginia?
Jamestown.
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Did the Mayflower dock at Plymouth Rock?
No, the water was too shallow. But, Plymouth Rock was the first place the Pilgrims set foot onto the New World.
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Did the Pilgrims take beer with them on their crossing?
Yes, John Alden was a cooper who made barrels.
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Did the Pilgrims actually wear those funny buckles and hats?
No, however, no one knows how this look originated.
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Do turkeys have heart attacks?
Yes. (The US Air force found that out the hard way when they were trying to break the sound barrier. Whole fields of turkeys fell down dead from heart attacks.)
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Every year, the President pardons a turkey and it goes to a public farm called Frying Pan Park, Herndon. Virginia. Who the the first President to pardon a turkey?
Harry Truman in 1947.
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How can a turkey drown when it’s raining?
By looking up.
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How fast can a spooked turkey run?
20 miles per hour.
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How high must a cranberry bounce before it is harvested?
4 inches.
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How many degrees can a turkey see with its eyes?
270 degrees. So they can see behind them.
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How many Pilgrim women are believed to have survived to celebrate the first Thanksgiving?
Only 5 survived and they all cooked the meat.
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How many turkeys are cooked each Thanksgiving in America?
45 million.
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In what year did the Macy’s Parade first occur?
1924.
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Is Thanksgiving only celebrated in the United States?
No, Canada observes the holiday as well.
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Not everyone sailing on the Mayflower was coming to the New World to settle. What was the purpose of the others?
To bring back furs, lumber and other things. They were sponsored by English businessmen.
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Of the 102 Pilgrims who set out on the journey to the New World, how many survived to celebrate the first Thanksgiving?
Around 50.
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Plymouth Rock is how big today?
The size of a car engine. (It has cracked 3 times over the years, each time getting smaller and smaller.)
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Thanksgiving became a national holiday thanks to this woman who was an editor of a woman’s magazine called “The Godey’s Ladies Book.” What was her name?
Sarah Hale. ( 1788-1879) She wrote letters to Congress for years to establish the holiday.
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The Mayflower was not built as a passenger ship. What was it’s original purpose?
As a merchant ship to carry wine.
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The original thanksgiving lasted how long?
3 days.
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The word Turkey is said to have come from the Hebrew word “Tukki” which meant:
Big Bird.
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There were only 2 ways to cook a turkey in 1627. One was to roast it using strings and skewers and spinning it vertically. The other was done by using a “tin kitchen” which was set inside the hearth and allowed the turkey to be cooked on a spit and turned. But, the “tin kitchen” was only for the wealthy. It cost $3 back then. What would that be equal to in today’s economy?
A week’s pay.
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What food do we never eat at Thanksgiving that the Pilgrims enjoyed on the first celebration?
Codfish.
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What foods were served at the first thanksgiving?
Deer, codfish and boiled pumpkin. They had no ovens for baking bread and had no sugar or milk.
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What Indian tribe was invited to spend thanksgiving with the pilgrims?
Wampanoag.
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What is a baby turkey called?
A poult.
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What percentage of pilgrims who sailed on the mayflower survived to celebrate thanksgiving?
50%.
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What utensils did the pilgrims eat with at the first thanksgiving?
Their hands, spoons and a knife. No forks present.
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What vegetable did the pilgrims have available for thanksgiving but did not use because they thought it was poisonous?
Potatoes.
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What was considered perfect table manners at the first Thanksgiving?
Eating with your hands, spitting on the floor and throwing bones into the hearth when done.
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What was the first department store to hold a Thanksgiving Day Parade?
Gimbel’s Department Store in Philadelphia, 1920.
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What was the name of the Indian chief that helped the pilgrims survive the winter?
Massasoit.
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What year did the first Thanksgiving take place?
1621.
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Who was the Captain of the Mayflower?
Christopher Jones.
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Which balloon was the first to fly in the 1927 Macy’s Parade?
Felix the Cat.
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Which gender of turkey says “gobble, gobble”?
The male, but only seasonally and when going to sleep.
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Which President moved the holiday up one week to help stimulate the Christmas shopping economy?
Franklin Roosevelt. But, it did not go over well and Congress in 1941 established the Federal Holiday always on the 4th Thursday in November.
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Who was the first astronaut to eat a turkey dinner on the moon?
Neil Armstrong.
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Who was the first president to make thanksgiving a national holiday?
Lincoln.
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Who was the first president to pardon a turkey from Thanksgiving dinner?
Truman.
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Why is the male turkey referred to as “Tom Turkey”?
Rumor has it that Benjamin Franklin was mad that Thomas Jefferson opposed his idea to naming the turkey as the National Bird. So, Franklin mockingly called the turkey “Tom Turkey” after Thomas Jefferson.
