Christmas general knowledge quiz

Christmas general knowledge questions and answers

25 questions. Tap a question’s answer line to see it.

1. Millions of which creatures march from forest to sea each year on Christmas Island?

   1. Green turtles
   2. Fruit bats
   3. Red crabs
   4. Land iguanas
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   C. Red crabs The march begins with the first rainfall of the wet season, usually in October or November.

2. Compared with a Norway spruce, what advantage does a Nordmann fir Christmas tree offer?

   1. Slower to drop its needles
   2. A stronger scent
   3. A lower price
   4. Blue-tinted needles
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   A. Slower to drop its needles The RHS lists the Norway spruce as the traditional tree, with a good scent but quick to shed its needles.

3. Unusually for deer, which reindeer grow antlers?

   1. Males only
   2. Both males and females
   3. Females only
   4. Calves only
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   B. Both males and females Bulls grow large, massive antlers while cows' antlers are shorter, more slender and irregular.

4. Robins appear on Christmas cards thanks to a Victorian nickname for which workers?

   1. Chimney sweeps
   2. Carol singers
   3. Postmen
   4. Lamplighters
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   C. Postmen Victorian postmen wore red waistcoats, and card robins came to stand for the postman delivering them.

5. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, who keeps Narnia in winter for a hundred years?

   1. The Snow Queen
   2. The Frost Giant
   3. The White Witch
   4. The Winter King
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   C. The White Witch C. S. Lewis published the book in 1950, and the Witch's magic even keeps Father Christmas out of Narnia.

6. In A Christmas Carol, what is the first name of Scrooge's late business partner, Marley?

   1. Thomas
   2. Samuel
   3. Jacob
   4. Ebenezer
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   C. Jacob Marley's ghost introduces himself to Scrooge with the words 'In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.'

7. A Christmas Carol went on sale on 19 December 1843; by which date had the first 6,000 copies sold out?

   1. Christmas Eve
   2. Shrove Tuesday
   3. Twelfth Night
   4. New Year's Eve
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   A. Christmas Eve Priced at five shillings, the book was an immediate success, and thirteen editions had appeared by the end of 1844.

8. From 1885, Vermont farmer Wilson Bentley photographed more than 5,000 examples of which winter phenomenon?

   1. Frost patterns
   2. Icicles
   3. Snow crystals
   4. Hailstones
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   C. Snow crystals Bentley lived his whole life on the family farm in Jericho, Vermont, and never found two crystals the same.

9. Which instrument accompanied the very first performance of 'Silent Night'?

   1. Organ
   2. Violin
   3. Harp
   4. Guitar
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   D. Guitar Joseph Mohr, who wrote the words, sang tenor and played, while composer Franz Xaver Gruber sang bass.

10. Holly comes as separate male and female trees. Which bear the red berries?

    1. Only grafted trees
    2. Male trees
    3. Both equally
    4. Female trees
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    D. Female trees The Woodland Trust notes holly is dioecious, and its berries can stay on the tree right through winter.

11. Which character in A Christmas Carol says 'God bless us every one!'?

    1. Ebenezer Scrooge
    2. Bob Cratchit
    3. Tiny Tim
    4. Jacob Marley
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    C. Tiny Tim Tim speaks the line 'the last of all', just after his father Bob Cratchit's Christmas toast.

12. In 1958, Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean became a territory of which country?

    1. Indonesia
    2. The United Kingdom
    3. New Zealand
    4. Australia
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    D. Australia Captain William Mynors named the island after sighting it on Christmas Day 1643.

13. St Nicholas, the 4th-century Bishop of Myra, lived in what is now which country?

    1. Egypt
    2. Turkey
    3. Greece
    4. Italy
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    B. Turkey He was born in Patara, a coastal village in Asia Minor that was Greek in his day.

14. Reindeer are the same species as which North American animal?

    1. Caribou
    2. Musk ox
    3. Moose
    4. Elk
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    A. Caribou Alaska's Fish and Game department notes that domesticated and semi-domesticated caribou are called reindeer.

15. On which date does the Christian feast of Epiphany fall?

    1. 25 March
    2. 6 January
    3. 2 February
    4. 1 January
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    B. 6 January Epiphany marks the manifestation of Christ, from a Greek word for the appearance of a god.

16. What is traditionally stirred into the Christmas pudding mix to bring luck to whoever finds it?

    1. A silver coin
    2. A seashell
    3. A glass bead
    4. An acorn
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    A. A silver coin Everyone takes a turn at stirring the pudding and makes a wish for the year ahead.

17. Counting every repeat in every verse, how many gifts are given in total in The Twelve Days of Christmas?

    1. 78
    2. 365
    3. 364
    4. 144
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    C. 364 Each verse repeats all the earlier gifts, so the twelve days deliver 364 presents in all, one fewer than the number of days in a year.

18. Brussels sprouts take their name from the capital city of which country?

    1. Germany
    2. France
    3. Belgium
    4. The Netherlands
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    C. Belgium The little cabbages were grown in what is now Belgium possibly as early as the 13th century, and reached Britain by the 17th century.

19. A classic snow crystal always keeps a shape with how many sides?

    1. Five
    2. Six
    3. Eight
    4. Four
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    B. Six NOAA says a snowflake's six arms match because each meets the same temperature and humidity as it falls.

20. Twelfth Night, the traditional end of the Christmas festivities, is the eve of which feast?

    1. Whitsun
    2. Epiphany
    3. Candlemas
    4. All Saints' Day
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    B. Epiphany The name goes back to Old English twelftan niht, the eve of Epiphany, the feast that falls twelve days after Christmas.

21. 'Silent Night' was performed for the first time on Christmas Eve of which year?

    1. 1818
    2. 1878
    3. 1788
    4. 1848
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    A. 1818 Its premiere took place in the church of St Nicholas in Oberndorf, near Salzburg.

22. The season of Advent takes its name from a Latin word meaning what?

    1. A light or flame
    2. A birth or beginning
    3. A watch or vigil
    4. A coming or arrival
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    D. A coming or arrival In church Latin, adventus meant the coming of the Saviour; the English word dates to late Old English.

23. In which year did Charles Dickens publish A Christmas Carol?

    1. 1870
    2. 1836
    3. 1859
    4. 1843
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    D. 1843 Dickens's ghost story proved so popular that two more editions were printed before the new year was out.

24. Stir-up Sunday, when families traditionally mix their Christmas pudding, is the last Sunday before which church season?

    1. Eastertide
    2. Advent
    3. Whitsuntide
    4. Lent
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    B. Advent The name comes from the day's old prayer, which begins 'Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord'.

25. In The Twelve Days of Christmas, which gift does 'my true love' send five of?

    1. Calling birds
    2. Gold rings
    3. French hens
    4. Swans a-swimming
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    B. Gold rings The rings arrive on the fifth day, after four calling birds and before six geese a-laying.