History of the Holiday
This year marks the official proclamation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday by President Abraham Lincoln.
What is 1863?
This famous cartoon character has been a mainstay in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade since 1927.
Who is Felix the Cat?
This common Thanksgiving dessert can trace its origins back to English settlers who brought the original recipes with them.
What is pumpkin pie?
This bird is often rumored to have been suggested by Benjamin Franklin as the national bird of the United States, instead of the bald eagle.
What is the turkey?
This is the name of the Native American tribe that celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims.
Who are the Wampanoag?
This U.S. president officially moved Thanksgiving from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday.
Who is Franklin D. Roosevelt?
This popular Thanksgiving side dish, traditionally made with green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and fried onions, was first created in the 1950s by the Campbell Soup Company.
What is green bean casserole?
This belief claims that eating this particular Thanksgiving food makes you sleepy due to its tryptophan content, though scientists now know that other meal components play a larger role.
What is turkey?
Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first successful harvest in this year.
What is 1621?
The first Thanksgiving meal likely included this fowl, which differs from the modern-day turkey.
What is duck or goose?
Originally known as “pepon,” this food item was first cultivated by Indigenous people and is a signature ingredient in Thanksgiving desserts.
What is pumpkin?
Contrary to the popular story, the Pilgrims did not originally land at Plymouth Rock. Many historians believe they first landed at this location, now a Provincetown historic site, before settling in Plymouth.
What is Cape Cod?
This U.S. president refused to make Thanksgiving a national holiday, arguing it was a local rather than a federal holiday.
Who is Thomas Jefferson?
This U.S. President started the tradition of pardoning a turkey.
Who is George H.W. Bush?
Native Americans used this part of the deer to play a game that some historians believe influenced the early game of football.
What is the bladder?
While many believe the first Thanksgiving was held by the Pilgrims in 1621, there is evidence of earlier thanksgiving celebrations in the U.S., including one led by Spanish explorers in 1565 in this present-day U.S. state.
What is Florida?
The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in this year.
What is 1924?
This U.S. astronaut celebrated the first Thanksgiving meal in space aboard Skylab in 1973.
Who is Gerald Carr?
This U.S. state was the first to officially adopt Thanksgiving as an annual holiday in 1817, well before it became a national holiday.
What is New York?
Although Thanksgiving is often depicted as a peaceful gathering, tensions existed between the Pilgrims and Native Americans. This Native American leader’s 1675–1676 war with New England colonists, later known as "King Philip's War," highlighted the complex and often strained relations following the early Thanksgiving.
Who is Metacomet (or King Philip)?