50 New Year's Trivia Questions and Answers

1. The earliest recorded New Year celebrations, about 4,000 years ago, belong to which ancient people?

2. What was the name of the big Babylonian festival that welcomed the new year?

3. Ancient Babylonians made New Year promises to return borrowed items and to pay back what?

4. January is named after which two-faced Roman god of beginnings?

5. Which Roman leader introduced a calendar in 46 BCE that made January 1 the first day of the year?

6. To fix the drifting calendar, Julius Caesar made the year 46 BCE extra long. How many days did it have?

7. The calendar most of the world uses today, introduced in 1582, is named after which pope?

8. How many months did Rome's earliest calendar have, according to tradition?

9. Which early Roman king is credited with adding January and February to the calendar?

10. The name December comes from the Latin word for which number?

11. Times Square's first New Year's Eve ball weighed approximately how much?

12. Before it was renamed in 1904, what was New York's Times Square called?

13. The very first Times Square ball in 1907 was built mainly from which metal?

14. The Times Square ball sits on a flagpole on top of which building?

15. How many seconds does the Times Square ball take to make its famous midnight descent?

16. What fruit do Greek families traditionally smash at the doorstep for luck at New Year?

17. In the Scottish custom of first-footing, what matters most after midnight?

18. In Denmark, what do many people climb onto so they can leap into the new year at midnight?

19. In Colombia, what do some people carry on a walk around the block on New Year's Eve, hoping for a year of travel?

20. In Japan, what are nengajo, which arrive in huge numbers on January 1?

21. Which gift-bringer, known as Grandfather Frost, brings presents at New Year in Russia?

22. What is the common Mandarin name for a red envelope containing lucky money at Lunar New Year?

23. Tet is the name of the Lunar New Year celebration in which country?

24. Nowruz, the Persian New Year, begins on which event in the sky?

25. In Germany, New Year's Eve is commonly called by what name?

26. What instrument, made from a ram's horn, is sounded during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year?

27. Which California city hosts a famous New Year's Day parade of flower-covered floats?

28. Which U.S. city hosts the Mummers Parade every New Year's Day?

29. In which New York City neighborhood do the oldest U.S. winter swimmers take their New Year's Day plunge?

30. Which city's harbour bridge is the backdrop for one of the first big midnight fireworks shows each year?

31. In London, crowds count down to midnight with the bongs of which famous bell?

32. In Spain, people try to eat one of which food on each stroke of midnight?

33. Japan's toshikoshi soba, the year-crossing noodles eaten on New Year's Eve, are made mostly from which grain?

34. In Italy, which small, coin-shaped legume is eaten around midnight on New Year's Eve for luck?

35. Hoppin' John, a lucky New Year's Day dish in the southern United States, is made with rice and which legume?

36. On January 1, families in Haiti celebrate the new year and independence with which dish?

37. Many families in the Philippines set out how many different round fruits on New Year's Eve?

38. In Korea, eating a bowl of which dish on Seollal is said to make you one year older?

39. Kagami mochi, a Japanese New Year decoration, is two stacked rice cakes topped with what?

40. Which country's Line Islands use UTC+14, making them among the first places on Earth to reach midnight?

41. Some of the earliest recorded New Year festivals were held in ancient Babylon. In which modern country did Babylon stand?

42. Which element gives fireworks their deep red color?

43. In the Northern Hemisphere, New Year's Day comes about ten days after which event, the shortest day of the year?

44. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station see about how many sunrises every day?

45. About how long does Earth take to travel once around the Sun?

46. Which of these century years was a leap year?

47. Lunar New Year begins with which phase of the moon?

48. How many years are in the traditional Chinese sexagenary calendar cycle?

49. The first Times Square New Year's ball measured how many feet across?

50. Which animal comes first in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac?