New Year Quiz

NEW YEAR QUIZ

1.      New Year has always been celebrated on 31^st December. True or false?

2.      Why are certain months named the way they are?

3.      What is the name of the person who named 31^st December/ 1^st January New Year?

4.      When was 1^st January abolished and why?

5.      Why is Rudolph’s nose red?

6.      Which three colours are the symbol of Christmas tree?

7.       Couples break up less before Christmas time than at other times of the year. True or false?

8.      What is the written abbreviation for Christmas in English?

     ANSWERS:

    Answers:

1.      The earliest recording of a New Year celebration is believed to have been in Mesopotamia, c. 2000 B.C. and was celebrated in mid-March. The early Roman calendar designated March 1 as the New Year.

2.      The calendar had just ten months, beginning with March. That the new year once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names of the months. September through December, our ninth through twelfth months, were originally positioned as the seventh through tenth months (septem is Latin for "seven," octo is "eight," novem is "nine," and decem is "ten."

3.      In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar introduced a new, solar-based calendar that was a vast improvement on the ancient Roman calendar, which was a lunar system that had become wildly inaccurate over the years. The Julian calendar decreed that the new year would occur with January 1, and within the Roman world, January 1 became the consistently observed start of the new year.

4.      In medieval Europe, however, the celebrations accompanying the new year were considered pagan and unchristian like, and in 567 the Council of Tours abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. At various times and in various places throughout medieval Christian Europe, the new year was celebrated on Dec. 25, the birth of Jesus; March 1; March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation; and Easter.

5.      Norwegian scientists have hypothesized that Rudolph’s red nose is probably the result of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system.

6.      The traditional three colors of Christmas are green, red, and gold. Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.

7.      According to data analyzed from Facebook posts, two weeks before Christmas is one of the two most popular times for couples to break up. However, Christmas Day is the least favorite day for breakups.

8.      Xmas