Holiday Trivia Answers

Answers to Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day
Holiday Trivia Questions

(Are you ready?)

Question One: Aside from New Orleans,  the most famous place to celebrate Mardi Gras (Carnival) is probably
     d) Rio de Janeiro

Question Two: What is traditionally served on Shrove Tuesday in the U.S., Canada, England and elsewhere, especially by Anglicans and Episcopalians?
       c) Pancakes
   Well, it was news to me!

Question Three: In Germany, Mardi Gras / Shrove Tuesday is
    a) called Karneval or Fasching, depending on where you are
 There are two different greetings, too. 

Question One: Which of the following did not take place on February 14th?
     b)  Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd, and addressed the Illinois state legislature for the first time (1843).
     What kind of a guy do you think he was?
  

Question Two:  Which of the following technological milestones did not take place on this day in history?
      c) Usenet expanded beyond the first four "nodes" at Stamford, UCLA, MIT and the Pentagon, adding connections to Harvard, the University of Arizona and CalTech (1971).
    I made that up, based on part of a team economics paper.

Question Three: Who was killed in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1929)?
   a) Seven of Al Capone's rival gangsters from the Bugsy Malone gang,plus an opthalmologist.
    Gotta feel sorry for the eye doctor!
 

Question Four:  Who was St. Valentine?
    d) At least three different early martyrs are associated with that name and saint's day, all of them fairly obscure.
   Kind of makes him/them seem superfluous to the holiday, doesn't it? 

Question Five: What February Roman holiday is most closely associated with the development of Valentine's Day?
    b) Lupercalia, the festival dedicated to fertility god Lupercus.
    Just another banal talking point in the discussion of love versus Eros.

Scores:

Becky - 3 /3, N/A
Jeff - 3/3,  2/5
Sara - 3 /3, sort of, N/A
Sarah - 3 /3,  3/5
Paul - 2/3, N/A

Karen

Holiday Trivia for Valentine's Day

Question One: Which of the following did not take place on February 14th? (Sorry, Jeff!  My bad!)
   a)  James Cook was killed by the natives of the Sandwich Islands (1779).
    b)  Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd, and addressed the Illinois state legislature for the first time (1843).
    c)  Oregon was admitted as the 33rd U.S. state (1859), and Arizona as the 48th state (1912).
    d)  Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray each applied for a patent for the telephone (1876).

Question Two:  Which of the following technological milestones did not take place on this day in history?
    a) The IBM (International Business Machines) corporation was founded (1924).
    b) ENIAC (for "Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer"), the first general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled at the University of Pennsylvania (1946).
    c) Usenet expanded beyond the first four "nodes" at Stamford, UCLA, MIT and the Pentagon, adding connections to Harvard, the University of Arizona and CalTech (1971).
    d)  The first of 24 GPS satellites was placed into orbit (1989).

Question Three: Who was killed in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1929)?
   a) Seven of Al Capone's rival gangsters from the Bugsy Malone gang, plus an opthalmologist.
   b) Four gangsters, three cops, and five innocent bystanders, including an orthodontist.
   c)  Six of Al Capone's most trusted lieutenants, plus a chiropractor.
   d)  Five mobsters from two rival gangs, plus three employees of Chicago-based Hallmark Corp who got caught in the crossfire.

Question Four:  Who was St. Valentine?
    a) He was the missionary and martyr who invented the paper heart during his second mission to China.
    b) He was the missionary and martyr who discovered chocolate.
    c) He was a fifth century martyr about whom little is known.
    d) At least three different early martyrs are associated with that name and saint's day, all of them fairly obscure.

Question Five: What February Roman holiday is most closely associated with the development of Valentine's Day?
    a) the one with Audrey Hepburn.
    b) Lupercalia, the festival dedicated to fertility god Lupercus.
    c) Cupidia, dedicated to Cupid, servant of Venus and Eros.
    d) Bacchanalia, dedicated to Bacchus, god of wine.
  

 

Happy Valentine's Day (belated or otherwise) to you all! - Karen

Holiday Trivia for Mardi Gras / Shrove Tuesday (posted a little late)

Question One: Aside from New Orleans,  the most famous place to celebrate Mardi Gras (Carnival) is probably
    a) Munich
    b) Amsterdam
    c) Syracuse
    d) Rio de Janeiro

Question Two: What is traditionally served on Shrove Tuesday in the U.S., Canada, England and elsewhere, especially by Anglicans and Episcopalians?
      a) Jambalaya
      b) Seafood Gumbo
      c) Pancakes
      d) Bourbon

Question Three: In Germany, Mardi Gras / Shrove Tuesday is
    a) called Karneval or Fasching, depending on where you are
    b) celebrated New Orleans style with jazz and everything
    c) a day of fasting
    d) not celebrated

Holiday Trivia for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

I've just been looking at a couple of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s most famous speeches.  Oh man, that guy was an amazing orator, perhaps the greatest of the twentieth century.  I urge you to take a look at some of the things he said. Typing key phrases into Google will bring up lots of copies.  (But answer my trivia questions first!)

I was eleven years old when he was murdered, and even I knew I was a secondhand witness to important history, in an amazing, often horrible year. Vietnam was a big mess and getting bigger, RFK's murder was still to come, and George Wallace was running for president. 

Around the end of that summer, my Mom staged her musical and political revue They'd Rather Be Right. The most touching part of it was a slide show, featuring pictures etched on our memory:  the assassinations and funerals of JFK, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. These were accompanied by the Association song Requiem for the Masses, which probably explains why a member of that group was in the audience for one of the perfomances. 

Mom's major source of pictures for the slide show was Life Magazine.  One of the shots was of the cover about King's death, titled "The Murder in Memphis."  Mom's slide cut off the right edge of the cover, so that it said, "The Murder in Me."  When I objected to this, Mom said she liked it that way, because it would encourage people to consider their own murderous impulses.

Dr. King was a freedom fighter, seeking justice and equality, but he was more than that.  He believed in non-violent means of achieving his ends, a collaboration in which people of all colors could work together peaceably to overcome ignorance and ill-will.  It's an ethic in which the ends do not justify the means, and skin color is no excuse for hatred. 

All these years later, his words are still words to live by.  Too bad that so many of us today are too cynical, too parochial, too angry, to look from his mountaintop or share in his dream.

Karen

Holiday Trivia:

   1. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born
       a) on the third Monday in January
       b) January 15, 1929
       c) January 16, 1929
       d) January 17, 1929

   2. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, in one of his most famous speeches, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "I have a dream that"....
       a) "...one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'"
      b) "...my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
      c) "...one day, down in Alabama...little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."
      d) all of the above, and more.

   3. In saying that he'd "been to the mountaintop" during his last speech  (April 3, 1968, Memphis, Tennessee) before the assassination, King was saying
       a) that he had been metaphorically handed God's commandments for a new age of freedom and equality
       b) that he had reached the heights of fame and accomplishment
       c) that he had seen the metaphorical "Promised Land" of freedom and equality, and was not concerned that, like Moses, he might not reach it, because the people would.
       d) that some day all would see "the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Holiday Trivia Answers 76-111

 Okay, here's the last batch of Holiday Trivia answers for the holiday season.  Sorry for the delay--I've been busy!

Question Seventy-Six: On the first three days of Christmas, what did my true love give to me, according to Bob and Doug McKenzie?
    d) three french toast, two turtlenecks, and a beer in a tree
    It  took them a few verses to think of putting the beer in a tree, however.

Question Seventy-Seven: Which candle in the Kinara is lit first on the second night of Kwanzaa?
    b) the black candle, representing unity
    Trick question. a) the first red candle, representing self-determination, is lit for the first time on the second night.  But the black candle is always lit first.

Question Seventy-Eight: Who were the Holy Innocents?
    a) the children slaughtered by King Herod in his failed attempt to kill Jesus

Question Seventy-Nine: On the fourth day of Christmas, what did my true love give to me, according to older versions of the song?
    b) four colly birds
    which means four collared birds

Question Eighty: What is represented by the four calling birds (or whatever), according to a discredited legend about The 12 Days of Christmas being a secret Catholic catechism?
     b) four gospels
 

Question Eighty-One: The fourth night of Kwanzaa celebrates the principle of Ujamaa, meaning
     b) cooperative economics
 

Question Eighty-Two: In different versions of the secret catechism theory, the five golden rings (or gold rings) for the Fifth Day of Christmas have been wrongly reported to refer to all of the following except
    d) five ring-necked golden pheasants
    That's apparently a real interpretation - the first seven days are all birds.

  Question Eighty-Three: The Twelve Days of Christmas end with
    c) Epiphany

Question Eighty-Four: Aside from being the Sixth Day of Christmas and the Fifth Night of Kwanzaa, December 30th is
     b) Rizal Day in the Philippines
    The Shire calendar has Yule, but not December.  A Paris hotel named for St. Lazare happened to have an advertised special that ended on 12/30.  And as far as I know, there is no official birthday of the blues--but I could be wrong! (Update: Sarah tracked the birth of the blues to W.C. Handy waiting for a train, sometime in 1903!)

Question Eighty-Five: The fifth night of Kwanzaa celebrates the principle of Nia, meaning
     b) having a goal or purpose
 

Question Eighty-Six: When was the first formal New Year's Eve celebration at Times Square?
    a) December 31st, 1904

Question Eighty-Seven: The sixth night of Kwanzaa celebrates the principle of Kuumba, meaning creativity. Part of this principle is the idea of doing doing "as much as we can" to benefit the community.  This night is also celebrated with
      b) a Kwanzaa Feast (Karamu)
 

Question Eighty-Eight: What year did DickClark first host Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve?
    b) 1972
 

Question Eighty-Nine: What year did the ball first drop in Times Square?
     c) 1907

Question Ninety: What did the city of Indianapolis introduce on 12/31/38 to combat drunk driving?
     c) the "drunkometer"
  

Question Ninety-One: Who was most associated with New Year's Eve before Dick Clark's annual gig got started?
     c) Guy Lombardo
     But I remember Captain Kangaroo introducing the parades when I was little.

Question Ninety-Two: Who helped to develop the song Auld Lang Syne as we know it?
     d) Robert Burns

Question Ninety-Three: The designation of January 1 as the start of the new year was first established by
    a) the Roman Senate in 153 BCE

Question Ninety-Four: Why would I pick today to mention the Frosty the Snowman TV special?
     b) Frosty's first words are "Happy New Year!"

Question Ninety-Five: Which of the following parades does not take place on New Year's Day?
    c) the parade of the Golden Bough

Question Ninety-Six: What is the name of the Rankin-Bass sequel to the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special?
     d) Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Question Ninety-Seven: What year was the first Tournament of Roses Parade?
    a) 1886
   However, Becky found another source that said 1890.  I can't find my original source with the other date, just several with the 1890 date.  Weird.

Question Ninety-Eight: Who or what is a "first-footer"?
       d) the first person to cross the threshold after midnight at at Hogmany celebration (a dark-haired gentleman is thought to bring good luck)

Question Ninety-Nine: Which of the following foods is not considered (somewhere!) to bring good luck if eaten New Year's Day (particularly at midnight in some cases)?
     c)  lobster
Eating lobster is considered bad luck, because of the way it moves backwards.

Question One Hundred: On the ninth day of Christmas, someone's true love received
     d) nine ladies dancing

Question One Hundred One: What did my true love give to me on the 9th day of Christmas, according to Bob & Doug?
     d)  they never got around to the ninth day, but sort of skipped ahead

Question One Hundred Two: On the tenth day of Christmas, someone's true love received
   c) ten lords a-leaping

Question One Hundred Three: Before reaching "the place where the child was," whom did the magi visit?
    b) Herod the Great

Question One Hundred Four: We Three Kings of Orient Are...how do we know there were three Magi, and that they were kings?
     d)  from traditions developed in the third through eighth centuries AD. They were more likely Zoroastrian astrologers.

Question One Hundred Five: What's been wrong with my 12 Days of Christmas questions recently?
      c) Pay attention, Karen: you've been running a day ahead in the numbering

Question One Hundred Six: Which of these is not an authentic song about the Magi?  
    d) Hey Hey We’re The Magi

Question One Hundred Seven: What does it mean if you find a thimble in your slice of Epiphany cake, at least according to St. Michael's and All Angels Church (and I'm sure they didn't make it up!)?
       c. you're supposed to bake the cake next year
      Okay, maybe Father Smith freely adapted the tradition to this.  As Becky said, other traditions about the thimble exist.

Question One Hundred Eight: What does Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night have to do with Epiphany?
    c) Wild behavior in the play echoed Epiphany revelries in his time.
It may have been first performed on a Twelfth Night, but probably not in 1602, more likely 1601.

Question One Hundred Nine: Alleged relics of the three Magi are kept in a cathedral in
    b) Cologne
    At various times they were also in Constantinople, and later Milan, but they ended up in Cologne. However, Becky says some went back to Milan.  Clearly, I need to rewrite this question.

Question One Hundred Ten: What is the full name of Epiphany in the Episcopal calendar?
      c. The Epiphany or the Manifestation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles

Question One Hundred Eleven: Besides the arrival of the Magi, Epiphany celebrates
     a) the Baptism and the Transfiguration of Jesus
     All three events are sometimes depicted in triptych (three panels).

 

Winners, Questions 1-111:
Becky Y: 95 of 111, for 85.49%  95 / 111
Sarah K:   59 of  111, for 53.15%
Jeff: 34 of 111, for  30.63%


And the prizes?  I don't know!  But I'll think of something.  Suggestions, anyone?

Karen

Holiday Trivia for the Epiphany

Question One Hundred Eight: What does Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night have to do with Epiphany?
    a) It is known to have been first performed on that date in 1602.
    b) The play begins and ends on Epiphany
    c) Wild behavior in the play echoed Epiphany revelries in his time
    d) The play contains twelve drummers drumming

Question One Hundred Nine: Alleged relics of the three Magi are kept in a cathedral in
    a) Constantinople
    b) Cologne
    c) Rome
    d) Milan

Question One Hundred Ten: What is the full name of Epiphany in the Episcopal calendar?
   a) The Feast of the Epiphany
   b) The Twelfth Day of Christmas, Otherwise Known as the Epiphany
   c. The Epiphany or the Manifestation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles
   d. The Epiphany or the Adoration of the Magi

Question One Hundred Eleven: Besides the arrival of the Magi, Epiphany celebrates
    a) the Baptism and the Transfiguration of Jesus
    b) the Circumcision and Baptism of Jesus
    c) the Transfiguration of Jesus and the Conversion of St. Paul
    d) the birth of Sherlock Holmes according to the Greek calendar

Karen

Holiday Trivia Posted in a Mad Rush

 Tomorrow night's trivia will be posted after class, but it should be worth the wait.  All Epiphany, all the time!

Question One Hundred Six: Which of these is not an authentic song about the Magi?  
    a) The March of the Three Kings
    b) Eastern Monarchs, Sages Three
    c) From The Orient They Came a-Riding
    d) Hey Hey We’re The Magi

Question One Hundred Seven: What does it mean if you find a thimble in your slice of Epiphany cake, at least according to St. Michael's and All Angels Church (and I'm sure they didn't make it up!)?
      a) someone lost a thimble
      b. the baker didn't have a sixpence to put in it
      c. you're supposed to bake the cake next year
      d. you will have to work hard throughout the year

 

Karen

Holiday Trivia for...Um....!

 

Question One Hundred Four: We Three Kings of Orient Are...how do we know there were three Magi, and that they were kings?
     a)  from the Gospel According to Matthew
     b)  from the Gospel According to Luke
     c)  from the song, which was based on a bad translation in the King James Bible
     d)  from traditions developed in the third through eighth centuries AD. They were more likely Zoroastrian astrologers.

Question One Hundred Five: What's been wrong with my 12 Days of Christmas questions recently?
    a) Gee, Karen, you've been scoring the answers wrong
    b) Hey, Karen,  the 12 days of Christmas are supposed to end with Christmas
    c) Pay attention, Karen: you've been running a day ahead in the numbering
    d) Relax, Karen, nothing's wrong

Oops! Karen

G'Day, and Welcome to Holiday Trivia

 

Question One Hundred: On the ninth day of Christmas, someone's true love received
    a) nine drummers drumming
    b) nine pipers piping
    c) nine lords a-leaping
    d) nine ladies dancing

Question One Hundred One: What did my true love give to me on the 9th day of Christmas, according to Bob & Doug?
      a) nine pounds of back bacon
     b)  nine packs of smokes
     c)  nine comic books
     d)  they never got around to the ninth day, but sort of skipped ahead

Holiday Trivia for New Year's Day

Question Ninety-Three: The designation of January 1 as the start of the new year was first established by
    a) the Roman Senate in 153 BCE
    b) Julius Caesar in 46 BCE
    c) Guy Lombardo in 1945
    d) Pope Gregory XIII in 1582

Question Ninety-Four: Why would I pick today to mention the Frosty the Snowman TV special?
     a) Frosty promises to come back on New Year's Day
     b) Frosty's first words are "Happy New Year!"
     c) It's Frosty's favorite holiday
     d) No good reason

Question Ninety-Five: Which of the following parades does not take place on New Year's Day?
    a) the Tournament of Roses Parade
    b) the Mummer's Parade
    c) the parade of the Golden Bough
    d) a four-day parade in Nepal (the beginning of it, anyway)

Question Ninety-Six: What is the name of the Rankin-Bass sequel to the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special?
      a) Rudolph's Happy New Year
     b) Rudolph and Frosty: Happy at Last
     c) Rudolph's Frosty New Year
     d) Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Question Ninety-Seven: What year was the first Tournament of Roses Parade?
    a) 1886
    b) 1902
    c) 1916
    d) 1945

Question Ninety-Eight: Who or what is a "first-footer"?
    a) the first person to dance at  a Baltic New  Year's celebration
    b) the traditional gathering of old shoes on New Year's Day in Sweden for donation to the poor
    c) the first person to leave a New Year's Eve party after midnight
    d) the first person to cross the threshold after midnight at a Hogmany celebration (a dark-haired gentleman is thought to bring good luck)

Question Ninety-Nine: Which of the following foods is not considered (somewhere!) to bring good luck if eaten New Year's Day (particularly at midnight in some cases)? 
     a)  black-eyed peas
     b)  apples
     c)  lobster
     d) 12 grapes

Happy New Year! - Karen

Holiday Trivia - A New Year's Eve Blowout!

Happy New Year!

Question Eighty-Six: When was the first formal New Year's Eve celebration at Times Square?
    a) December 31st, 1904
    b) December 31st, 1905
    c) December 31st, 1899
    d) December 31st,  1907

Question Eighty-Seven: The sixth night of Kwanzaa celebrates the principle of Kuumba, meaning creativity. Part of this principle is the idea of doing doing "as much as we can" to benefit the community.  This night is also celebrated with
    a) campfire songs
    b) a Kwanzaa Feast (Karamu)
    c) the lighting of all the candles of the kinara except one green one
    d) the painting of communal murals

Question Eighty-Eight: What year did Dick Clark first host Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve?
    a) 1971
    b) 1972
    c) 1973
    d) 1974

Question Eighty-Nine: What year did the ball first drop in Times Square?
    a) 1905
    b) 1906
    c) 1907
    d) 1908

Question Ninety: What did the city of Indianapolis introduce on 12/31/38 to combat drunk driving?
    a) walking a straight line
    b) the drunk tank
    c) the "drunkometer"
    d) the designated driver

Question Ninety-One: Who was most associated with New Year's Eve before Dick Clark's annual gig got started?
    a) The Queen of Roses
    b) Captain Kangaroo
    c) Guy Lombardo
    d) Robert Burns

Question Ninety-Two: Who helped to develop the song Auld Lang Syne as we know it?
    a) William Shakespeare
    b) Elizabeth Barrett Browning
    c) Robert Browning
    d) Robert Burns

Karen

Holiday Trivia #84-85

 Sorry this is a little late!  I've been having phone line problems, and several other distractions. Please note that I just renumbered the entries from 80 on, bevcause I had two #80s! 

Question Eighty-Four: Aside from being the Sixth Day of Christmas and the Fifth Night of Kwanzaa, December 30th is
    a) the day before Yule in the Shire calendar
    b) Rizal Day in the Philippines
    c) the official birthday of the blues
    d) the feast day of St. Lazare

Question Eighty-Five: The fifth night of Kwanzaa celebrates the principle of Nia, meaning
    a) cooperative economics
    b) having a goal or purpose
    c) collective work and responsibility
    d) self-determination

 

Karen

Holiday Trivia #81-83

 You guessed it - more Kwanzaa and 12 Days of Christmas.

Question Eighty-One: The fourth night of Kwanzaa celebrates the principle of Ujamaa, meaning
    a) self-determination
    b) cooperative economics
    c) collective work and responsibility
    d) creativity

Question Eighty-Two: In different versions of the secret catechism theory, the five golden rings (or gold rings) for the Fifth Day of Christmas have been wrongly reported to refer to all of the following except
    a) the Pentateuch
    b) five decades of the rosary
    c) five obligatory sacraments of the Church
    d) five ring-necked golden pheasants

  Question Eighty-Three: The Twelve Days of Christmas end with
    a) Christmas Day
    b) the Feast of Stephen
    c) Epiphany
    d) Candlemas

 

Holiday Trivia #79-80

I'm skipping the Kwanzaa tonight, but I'll try to have a good question about it for tomorrow.

Question Seventy-Nine: On the fourth day of Christmas, what did my true love give to me, according to older versions of the song?
    a) four cooly birds
    b) four colly birds
    c) four collie birds
    d) four collared birds

Question Eighty: What is represented by the four calling birds (or whatever), according to a discredited legend about The 12 Days of Christmas being a secret Catholic catechism?
    a) four girlfriends
    b) four gospels
    c) four blackbirds
    d) four outlawed sacraments

Karen

Holiday Trivia #76-78

One of these is a little sacrilegious. Please forgive me. - Karen.

Question Seventy-Six: On the first three days of Christmas, what did my true love give to me, according to Bob and Doug McKenzie?
    a) three french fries, two turtlenecks, and a bear in a tree
    b) three french fries, two turtlenecks, and a beer in a tree
    c) three french toast, two pounds of back bacon, and a beer in a tree
    d) three french toast, two turtlenecks, and a beer in a tree

Question Seventy-Seven: Which candle in the Kinara is lit first on the second night of Kwanzaa?
    a) the first red candle, representing self-determination
    b) the black candle, representing unity
    c) the first green candle, representing collective work and responsibility
    d) different candles are chosen in different years

Question Seventy-Eight: Who were the Holy Innocents?
    a) the children slaughtered by King Herod in his failed attempt to kill Jesus
    b) the Little Drummer Boy, Amahl  and Baboushka
    c)  the first people to see baby Jesus
    d) Cubby and Karen

Holiday Trivia Answers, #41-75

 Since my regular players have now caught up through last night's questions, I'll give answers through last night, along with your updated scores.

Question Forty-One:  When was the first Miracle on 34th Street film released?
     b) May, 1947
    It's true!  One of the quintessential Christmas movies originally came out in May.  What were they thinking?  Blame Darryl F. Zanuck.

Question Forty-Two: Who narrates the Frosty the Snowman TV special?
     c) Jimmy Durante
     He sings about it too--sort of!

Question Forty-Three: The Druids believed that a syrup made from the holly plant would
     c) cure a cough
     A couple of the other things on the list (e.g. fertility) were holly-related, but the syrup was cough syrup.

Question Forty-Four: According to the song, how does one get to Grandmother’s house?
    a. over the river and through the woods
    How times have changed!

Question Forty-Five: The eight year-old who asked if there really was a Santa Claus was
    b) Virginia O’Hanlon

Question Forty-Six: What, according to A. A. Milne, did King John want most for Christmas?    
     b) a big red India rubber ball
    As one of you pointed out, he wanted the oranges and chocolate and pocket knife too, but the ball was the top wish.  He got it, too.

Question Forty-Seven: In the first verse of Carol of the Bells, what do the bells all seem to say?    
     d) “Throw cares away”

Question Forty-Eight: The first commercially manufactured Christmas cards in the U.S. were made by
   b. Richard Pease, of New York, in 1851
    Sources vary on this one, but a page about Louis Prang, who did it in 1875 and usually gets the credit, mentions printer Pease's earlier achievement
 

Question Forty-Nine:  “Christmas Afternoon”, a Robert Benchley parody of Charles Dickens, closes with
     d) “God help us, every one.”

Question Fifty: What Christmas gift did General Sherman give to President Lincoln in 1864?
    b) Savannah
    as characterized by Sherman in his post-battle telegram, delivered December 22, 1864.

Question Fifty-One: What seasonal breakfast cereal first appeared on supermarket shelves in the mid 1980s?
    b) Cap’n Crunch’s Christmas Crunch
    and it still exists (seasonally) in 2004.

Question Fifty-Two: Which of these is not a genuine record?
    b) We Wish You A Deadly Christmas

 

Question Fifty-Three: How is Santa dressed in A Visit From St. Nicholas?
    b) in fur
    "all in fur from his head to his foot"

Question Fifty-Four: In what body of water can you find Christmas Island?
    d) a and c
    There are two islands with this name, one in the Pacific Ocean and one in the Indian Ocean

Question Fifty-Five:Which of the following was not a real Christmas TV special?
    b) Miss Piggy’s Christmas Cookery
 

Question Fifty-Six: In the song I’ll Be Home For Christmas, how is the singer planning to get there?
    d) by dreaming

Question Fifty-Seven:  The ancient Roman holiday Saturnalia took place
    a)  originally December 17 & December 19th; eventually December 17th through 23rd
    Exactly who and what was celebrated also changed as the empire rose.

Question Fifty-Eight: What is the relationship between Stonehenge and the winter solstice?
     d) b and c
    The stones do align with astronomic events, AND some groups associate it with ancient spirituality.  However, Stonehenge predates the Druids by many hundreds of years.
 

Question Fifty-Nine: Which of the following observances, ancient and modern, is not associated with the winter solstice?
    c)  Ramadan
    Ramadan sometimes misses winter solstice by about a month, as it did this year.

Question Sixty: Saturnalia was associated with all of the following except  
    c) Druids
   Saturnalia comes from the Romans.  Associating it with Druidism is a modern confabulation.

Question Sixty-One:  In A Christmas Carol, who comes to Scrooge’s office and asks him to give to the poor?
    d) two portly gentlemen

Question Sixty-Two: “We won’t go until we get some” what?
    b) figgy pudding

Question Sixty-Three: In O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi”, what does Jim sell to raise money at Christmas?
     b) his watch
     I hate that story.  The young couple behave selflessly and get totally screwed over for it.  How is this uplifting?

Question Sixty-Four: What famous American writer almost certainly influenced Clement Moore’s description of St. Nicholas?
    b) Washington Irving
   As described in Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty (1808)

Question Sixty-Five: Which are the correct names of the final pair of reindeer as named in A Visit From St. Nicholas, Clement Moore’s classic poem?
    b) Donder and Blitzen
    although some sources make it Donder and Blixen

Question Sixty-Six: In the movie A Christmas Story, what does little Ralphie want for Christmas?
    a) a Red Ryder air rifle with…
    a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time.  Incidentally, Daisy says there never was a configuration exactly like that.

Question Sixty-Seven: Who did not record The Little Drummer Boy?
   c) The Hong Kong Cavaliers
    They were too busy fighting Hanoi Xan and Red Lectroids with Buckaroo Banzai!

  Question Sixty-Eight: In France, children leave their shoes by the chimney on Christmas Eve.  In the morning they find them
    c) filled with presents

 Question Sixty-Nine:  On the first day of Christmas, what did my true love give to me?
    c) a partridge in a pear tree
    I didn't mean John, y'know!

Question Seventy: How did George Washington spend Christmas in 1776?
    a) crossing the Delaware by night for a sneak attack on the Hessians

Question Seventy-One: Which of the following is the most likely estimate of the actual birth date of Jesus?
    a) Sometime in the spring, circa 6 - 4 BC
    Okay, or maybe the fall, but probably not December.  There are problems with any date you can name, because the first census we know about took place after that particular King Herod died in 4 BC.  And by the way, there's no such year as 0. But what difference does it make, really, exactly when it happened?

Question Seventy-Two: Roasted boar's head was once a traditional part of Christmas dinner in England. One story about this practice tells of an Oxford student who killed a wild boar with
   c)  a book of Aristotle
    No, really!  The student shoved the book down the boar's throat, choking him!  Is that a bizarre story, or what?!

Question Seventy-Three:  Every year, December 26th is all of the following except
   c) The Feast of St. Wenceslaus
   King Wenceslas is honored as St. Wenceslas our Wenceslaus, but not on that date.

Question Seventy-Four: Which candle in the Kinara is first lit on the first night of Kwanzaa?
     b) the black candle, representing unity
 

Question Seventy-Five: Who was the real Good King Wenceslas?
     a) a ruler of Bohemia, legendary for his generosity to the poor
   

Leaders, Questions 1-75:
Becky Y: 65 of 75, for 86.67%
Sarah K:   42 (!) of  75, for 56%
Jeff: 22 of 75, for  29.33%

Karen

Holiday Trivia #73-75

Now that the "first day of Christmas" is over, the number of questions per day diminishes. Less work for me, less boredom for you!

Question Seventy-Three:  Every year, December 26th is all of the following except
    a) The first day of Kwanzaa
    b) The Feast of Stephen
    c) The Feast of St. Wenceslaus
    d)  Boxing Day

Question Seventy-Four: Which candle in the Kinara is first lit on the first night of Kwanzaa?
    a) the first red candle, representing self-determination
    b) the black candle, representing unity
    c) the first green candle, representing collective work and responsibility
    d) different candles are chosen in different years

Question Seventy-Five: Who was the real Good King Wenceslas?
    a) a ruler of Bohemia, legendary for his generosity to the poor
    b) one of the three Magi to visit the baby Jesus
    c) the first ruler to declare the Feast of St. Stephen a legal holiday
    d) the first Christian king of the Saxons

Holiday Trivia #69-72

Here's the Christmas Day trivia. I'm not ready to write about my Christmas, yet. (It was fine.)  However, I should be able to get this week's JW posting done shortly.

Question Sixty-Nine:  On the first day of Christmas, what did my true love give to me?
    a)  a Partry Ginna Pear Tree
    b) The Partridge Family’s Greatest Hits
    c) a partridge in a pear tree
    d) an owl in an old oak tree

Question Seventy: How did George Washington spend Christmas in 1776?
    a) crossing the Delaware by night for a sneak attack on the Hessians
    b) distributing donated supplies from farmers at Valley Forge
    c) washing his socks
    d) sending a dispatch to Philadelphia and writing a letter to his wife Martha

Question Seventy-One: Which of the following is the most likely estimate of the actual birth date of Jesus?
    a) Sometime in the spring, circa 6 - 4 BC
    b) December 25th, 0 AD
    c) December 25th, 1 AD
    d) March 25th, 4 AD

Question Seventy-Two: Roasted boar's head was once a traditional part of Christmas dinner in England. One story about this practice tells of an Oxford student who killed a wild boar with
    a)  Excalibur
    b)  a lecture in Latin
    c)  a book of Aristotle
    d)  a Yule log

I hope you all had a great Christmas, and that your tree didn't fall over.

Karen