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Seven days of questions and answers

New Year Trivia Answers Archive

Review earlier daily rounds, reveal the correct answer, and use the short explanation to learn the fact behind each question. Page 10 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

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Daily round

  1. Which country celebrates Seollal as a major traditional holiday?

    Answer: South Korea

    Seollal is the Korean lunar New Year and a major holiday in South Korea.

  2. What are New Year's resolutions?

    Answer: Promises of personal change

    New Year's resolutions are personal commitments to begin or maintain desired changes.

  3. Nowruz begins near which astronomical event?

    Answer: March equinox

    Nowruz begins at the vernal equinox, when day and night are approximately equal.

  4. What are red envelopes containing gift money commonly called in Mandarin?

    Answer: Hóngbāo

    Hóngbāo are red envelopes used to present money on holidays and special occasions.

  5. Which event starts the numbering of years in the Islamic calendar?

    Answer: The Hijra

    The Islamic era is counted from the Hijra, Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina.

Daily round

  1. Which ancient Roman ruler gave his name to the Julian calendar?

    Answer: Julius Caesar

    Julius Caesar sponsored the reform that produced the Julian calendar.

  2. Which California city hosts the Rose Parade on New Year's Day?

    Answer: Pasadena

    The Tournament of Roses Parade travels through Pasadena, California.

  3. Which college football game is traditionally linked with Pasadena's New Year celebration?

    Answer: Rose Bowl

    The Rose Bowl game is the sporting counterpart to Pasadena's Tournament of Roses events.

  4. Enkutatash is the New Year holiday of which country?

    Answer: Ethiopia

    Enkutatash marks the new year in Ethiopia's calendar tradition.

  5. In Spain, how many grapes are traditionally eaten with the midnight clock chimes?

    Answer: Twelve

    Spain's midnight custom uses twelve grapes, one for each clock chime and month ahead.

Daily round

  1. In Brazil, which color is commonly worn on New Year's Eve as a wish for peace?

    Answer: White

    Many Brazilian revelers wear white on New Year's Eve to symbolize peace.

  2. Which song is traditionally sung at midnight in many English-speaking New Year celebrations?

    Answer: Auld Lang Syne

    Auld Lang Syne is widely sung as the old year gives way to the new one.

  3. What is the Vietnamese lunar New Year commonly called?

    Answer: Tết

    Tết is the familiar shortened name for Vietnam's lunar New Year festival.

  4. In the Scottish custom of first-footing, what does the “first foot” describe?

    Answer: The first visitor after midnight

    First-footing centers on the first person to enter a home after midnight.

  5. What is burned in parts of Ecuador at midnight to represent the old year?

    Answer: An effigy

    Ecuadorian año viejo traditions burn an effigy symbolizing the departing year.

Daily round

  1. Which Pacific island nation is among the first countries to enter a new year by civil time?

    Answer: Kiribati

    Kiribati's Line Islands use UTC+14, placing them among the earliest inhabited places to begin a new civil year.

  2. What color underwear is traditionally associated with New Year luck in parts of Latin America?

    Answer: Yellow

    Yellow clothing, including underwear, is used in several Latin American New Year customs as a symbol of luck or prosperity.

  3. Chinese New Year begins on what kind of calendar date?

    Answer: A lunisolar date

    Chinese New Year follows a traditional lunisolar calendar rather than one fixed Gregorian date.

  4. How many years make a millennium?

    Answer: 1,000

    A millennium is a period of one thousand years.

  5. Which month begins the Gregorian calendar year?

    Answer: January

    January is the first month of the Gregorian calendar year.

Daily round

  1. Which color is prominently associated with good fortune during Chinese New Year?

    Answer: Red

    Red decorations and envelopes signify luck and celebration during Chinese New Year.

  2. Which sprouted greens are commonly placed on a Nowruz haft-sin table?

    Answer: Sabzeh

    Sabzeh consists of sprouted wheat, barley, or lentils and symbolizes renewal.

  3. Which square rice cake is a traditional Tết food?

    Answer: Bánh chưng

    Bánh chưng is a square glutinous-rice cake filled with mung bean and pork for Tết.

  4. How many time zones does mainland China officially use?

    Answer: One

    Mainland China observes one official time zone, China Standard Time.

  5. Apples are traditionally dipped in what food for a sweet Rosh Hashanah?

    Answer: Honey

    Apples dipped in honey express a wish for a sweet year in Jewish custom.

Daily round

  1. Which musical instrument is strongly associated with Hogmanay celebrations in Scotland?

    Answer: Bagpipes

    Bagpipes are a familiar musical feature of Scottish Hogmanay events.

  2. What gas creates bubbles in sparkling wine?

    Answer: Carbon dioxide

    Dissolved carbon dioxide forms the streams of bubbles in sparkling wine.

  3. Which animal comes first in the Chinese zodiac cycle?

    Answer: Rat

    The Rat occupies the first position in the twelve-animal Chinese zodiac sequence.

  4. Which April festival marks the traditional New Year in Laos?

    Answer: Pi Mai

    Pi Mai is the Lao New Year festival, celebrated with cleansing and water customs.

  5. The abbreviation BCE is commonly expanded as what?

    Answer: Before Common Era

    BCE means Before Common Era and labels years preceding the Common Era.

Daily round

  1. Which season begins around the civil New Year in the Southern Hemisphere?

    Answer: Summer

    January falls in summer in the Southern Hemisphere because Earth's axial tilt reverses the seasonal pattern.

  2. How many days does a common Gregorian year contain?

    Answer: 365

    A common Gregorian year has 365 days; a leap year has one additional day.

  3. Which noodle dish is commonly eaten on New Year's Eve in Japan?

    Answer: Toshikoshi soba

    Toshikoshi soba, meaning year-crossing noodles, is a Japanese New Year's Eve tradition.

  4. Which object do some Colombians carry at midnight as a wish for travel in the new year?

    Answer: An empty suitcase

    Some Colombians walk with an empty suitcase at midnight as a wish for travel in the coming year.

  5. What causes the cycle of seasons experienced through a year?

    Answer: Earth's axial tilt

    Earth's tilted axis changes the angle and duration of sunlight as the planet orbits the Sun.