Black Friday Quiz: The Story of the Biggest Shopping Day
This Black Friday quiz explains the shopping day after Thanksgiving, from the Philadelphia police who gave it its name to Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, Giving Tuesday, China's Singles' Day, Buy Nothing Day and the spread of Black Friday deals through Amazon and Europe. Ten questions.
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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 90 Seconds
Dates
Black Friday falls on the day after which holiday?
Name
Police in which U.S. city popularized the term Black Friday in the 1950s and 1960s?
Name
Which explanation of the name became popular later, though it is not the original meaning?
Online
What is the Monday after Thanksgiving, focused on online shopping, called?
Small Shops
Which day, launched in 2010 by American Express, encourages people to shop at local businesses?
Charity
Which day after Cyber Monday encourages people to donate to charity?
China
Singles' Day, often the world's biggest shopping day, is held in China on which date?
Protest
Which protest day, held on Black Friday, asks people not to shop at all?
Spread
Which online retailer helped spread Black Friday deals to the United Kingdom around 2010?
Shopping Tips
What is a doorbuster in Black Friday shopping?
Your score
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Scroll down to see the explanation for each question.
Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions
- Q1: Black Friday falls on the day after which holiday?
Answer: Thanksgiving
Because Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, Black Friday falls between November 23 and 29. In 2026 it is November 27.
- Q2: Police in which U.S. city popularized the term Black Friday in the 1950s and 1960s?
Answer: Philadelphia
Officers used it to describe the traffic jams and crowds of shoppers and visitors the day before the Army-Navy football game.
- Q3: Which explanation of the name became popular later, though it is not the original meaning?
Answer: Shops went from red ink to black ink, or profit
The profit story spread in the 1980s. The original Philadelphia use referred to chaos on the streets.
- Q4: What is the Monday after Thanksgiving, focused on online shopping, called?
Answer: Cyber Monday
The term was introduced in 2005 by the National Retail Federation's online division, Shop.org, and quickly spread to retailers worldwide.
- Q5: Which day, launched in 2010 by American Express, encourages people to shop at local businesses?
Answer: Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday falls between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It is now supported by many towns and cities.
- Q6: Which day after Cyber Monday encourages people to donate to charity?
Answer: Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday began in 2012 in New York and has become a global movement in dozens of countries.
- Q7: Singles' Day, often the world's biggest shopping day, is held in China on which date?
Answer: November 11
The date 11/11 is made of four ones, symbolizing single people. Alibaba turned it into a huge online sales event.
- Q8: Which protest day, held on Black Friday, asks people not to shop at all?
Answer: Buy Nothing Day
Buy Nothing Day was started in Canada in 1992 and promoted by the magazine Adbusters.
- Q9: Which online retailer helped spread Black Friday deals to the United Kingdom around 2010?
Answer: Amazon
Amazon UK began promoting Black Friday deals, and supermarket chain Asda brought in-store sales in 2013. Today the day is popular across Europe.
- Q10: What is a doorbuster in Black Friday shopping?
Answer: A big discount offered for a short time to draw early crowds
Doorbusters are limited deals meant to get shoppers through the doors early. Many stores now open online sales days before Black Friday.
Black Friday Quiz – The Day the Holiday Shopping Season Begins
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States and the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. Stores offer big discounts, and many people line up early or shop online to find deals on electronics, clothes, toys and gifts. Over time, the event has grown into a long weekend of sales and spread to many other countries.
The name has an interesting history. In the 1950s and 1960s, police in Philadelphia used Black Friday to describe the huge crowds and traffic jams that filled the city the day after Thanksgiving. Retailers disliked the negative name, and later a more positive story became popular: that this was the day stores moved from losses, written in red ink, to profits in black ink.
Other shopping days have joined Black Friday. Cyber Monday, named in 2005, focuses on online deals. Small Business Saturday encourages people to support local shops, and Giving Tuesday promotes charity donations. In China, Singles' Day on November 11 became an even bigger online shopping event, led by the company Alibaba.
Black Friday has spread around the world, helped by online retailers like Amazon. It has also attracted criticism, from concerns about crowds and stressful working conditions to campaigns such as Buy Nothing Day that question heavy consumer spending. Many shoppers now compare prices online for weeks before deciding what to buy.
This quiz covers the history, traditions and global spread of Black Friday.
What This Quiz Teaches
This quiz is perfect for deal hunters and anyone curious about where shopping traditions come from.
- When Black Friday takes place
- Where the name really comes from
- What Cyber Monday and Small Business Saturday are
- How Giving Tuesday began
- Why Singles' Day is so big in China
- How Black Friday spread around the world
Quick Facts About Black Friday
- Many U.S. workers have the day off, which helped make it a shopping day.
- Some stores now begin Black Friday sales in early November.
- Online spending on Black Friday has grown rapidly since the 2010s.
- In some countries, the event is called Black Week or White Friday.
- Electronics and toys are among the most popular Black Friday purchases.
- Black Friday weekend ends with Cyber Monday.
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