80+ New Year’s Trivia Questions and Answers

Every New Year’s tradition has its own ways to ring in a lucky new year.

Are you the kind to enjoy a New Year’s Eve dinner with loved ones by your side waiting for the clock to strike midnight, so you can kiss your significant other – a happy new year? Or, do you prefer staying indoors, enjoying some homemade alcoholic cocktails, and planning achievable new year’s resolutions?

New Year’s Trivia Questions and Answers – New Year’s Eve Traditions Too – 2023

Whichever tradition you choose to usher in a new year, get some time to squeeze in for this fun new year’s trivia exercise. We have compiled New Year’s Day facts and history through symbols and traditions, to how the day is celebrated all over the world.

Here, take up these New Year’s trivia questions and answers sure to make you more enlightened!

 

1. “Auld Lang Syne” is the song most associated with New Year’s Eve. Who wrote it?

Robert Burns wrote “Auld Lang Syne” in Scotland in the year 1788.

 

2. What is the name of the celebration observed in ancient Greece during which an infant is paraded around in a basket?

Baby New Year

 

3. From what Roman god does the month of January get its name?

Janus, the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings

 

4. A famous Frank was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on January 1st, 1938? What’s Frank’s last name?

Frank Langella was born in Bayonne, NJ, in 1938.

 

5. When were the time balls invented?

In 1829

 

6. What group of American people emancipated the slaves on January 1st, 1788?

In 1788, the Pennsylvania Quakers emancipated the slaves.

 

7. What is the original reason that the time balls were invented?

To help sailors coordinate their navigation equipment.

 

8. On what calendar is Chinese New Year based?

 

9. In 1908, what classic New Year’s tradition began in Times Square in New York City?

Dropping the ball in Times Square is the classic tradition that began in 1908.

 

10. In which year was the Times Square New Year’s tradition not followed?

In 1942 and 1943, because of World War II.

 

11. Ads for what product were banned from American TV on January 1, 1971?

Cigarettes

 

12. If you lived in ancient Persia, what gift would you give out on New Year’s?

The Ancient Persians gave out eggs as gifts on New Year’s Day.

 

13. What was the weight of the original Time Square ball?

700 pounds

 

14. What is the translation of the title of the song “Auld Lang Syne”?

Times gone by

 

15. What custom do many Americans stick to when the ball drops?

Americans usually kiss after the ball drops.

 

16. What is the 2018 design of the Time Square ball called?

‘The Gift of Serenity’

 

17. About how many people watch the Waterford crystal Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop on television each year?

About 1 billion

 

18. In what year since the beginning of the tradition did the New Year’s Eve ball did not drop in New York City?

The ball did not drop in Times Square in the year 1942.

 

19. What is the confetti made of that falls over the crowd at midnight in Times Square?

People’s wishes. It is also called ‘wishfetti’

 

20. What food do people in the Southern United States often eat for good luck on New Year’s Eve?

21. Revelers in Spain usually eat something right after the clock hits midnight on New Year’s Eve. What is it?
Grapes

 

22. In Miami, Florida, how do they mark the arrival of the New Year?

By raising Mr. Neon, a metal foot that is 35 feet in size.

 

23. On what date was New Year’s celebrated in ancient Rome?

 

24. Where is New Year’s Eve known as Hogmanay?

In Scotland

 

25. What tradition is followed in the city of Hershey, PA, on New Year’s Eve?

They drop a giant kiss.

 

26. In Hungary, something is burnt as the New Year comes in. What is it?

Effigies are burnt in Hungary on New Year’s.

 

27. Who is given the credit for starting the tradition of New Year’s kiss?

 

28. What Australian city has one of the largest New Year’s celebrations?

Sydney

 

29. Which nation celebrates the New Year first?

Kiribati, an island nation in the Central Pacific.

 

30. In the Jewish religion, what is Rosh Hashanah?

The beginning of the New Year.

 

31. What singer died on January 1, 1985 in a plane crash?

Ricky Nelson

 

32. Which place in the world is the last to ring the New Year?

 

33. Where in the world do men dress up as demons on New Year’s to scare the kids into behaving well?

Akita, Japan. The tradition is called Namahage.

 

34. In what ancient country were eggs given as gifts on New Year’s Day?

Persia

 

35. On January 1, 1945 someone announced he was not a living god. Who was it?

Emperor Hirohito of Japan.

 

36. Where is it considered to be good luck to wear red underwear on New Year’s?

Italy

 

37. What is one of the top New Year’s resolutions?

To exercise more and/or lose weight

 

38. Who was proclaimed to be the Empress of India on January 1, 1877?

 

39. The households of this country follow the tradition of having twelve grapes in the first twelve seconds of the year. Can you guess which country it is?

Spain

 

40. When was the first Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, California?

1890

 

41. What famous group failed to pass a tryout for Decca Records on January 1?

The Beatles!

 

42. Which foods are considered to be bad luck if consumed on New Year’s?

Chicken and lobster

 

43. If you are in Scotland on New Year’s eve, who do you kiss at midnight?

Everyone

 

44. Who celebrated the first New Year’s celebration?

Ancient Babylonians

 

45. When do the Ethiopians mark their New Year’s, as per the Gregorian calendar?

September 11

 

46. Who was the first broadcast host of the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration?

Guy Lombardo

 

47. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau it was revealed that more ____ got stolen on New Year’s Eve. Fill in the blank?

More cars get stolen on New Year’s Eve than any other time of year.

 

48. Which calendar was invented during the French Revolution to observe the new age of liberty?

French Republican Calendar

 

49. What was the first year there were fireworks for the New York New Year’s Eve celebration?

1904

50. What famous person took over the festivities in the 1970s?

Dave Clark

 

51. January derives from which language?

Latin, for the word ‘ianua’, meaning door.

 

52. About 360 million glasses of what drink are served in the United States each New Year’s Eve?

Champagne

 

53. On January 1, 1803, a Caribbean country gained independence from France. What country was it?

Haiti gained it’s independence

 

54. Which 1000-year long song was launched on January 1, 2000?

‘Longplayer’ by Jem Finer.

 

55. People eat special foods on New Year’s Eve and Day believing they will bring good things during the coming year. True or false?

True

 

56. The highest box office sales for a movie shown on a New Year’s Day were for which movie?

James Cameron’s Avatar

 

57. Which festival is held in Antarctica to celebrate New Year’s?

Annual New Year’s Music Festival.

 

58.  What was the total diameter of New Year Eve ball before 2008?

Five Feet

 

59. What materials made up the first-ever Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball?

Iron and wood

 

60. How many Americans make a New Year’s resolution?

45%

 

61. Pennsylvanian Trembler did what on January 1, 1788?

They free their slaves

 

62. To stick on New Year resolution Southern US beliefs in what?

Be at death’s door

 

63.  How many colors can the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball display?

16 Million

 

64. How much champagne is consumed by Americans during the time of New Year’s?

360 million glasses

 

65. In the US on New Year eating the pancake with butter, syrup and whipped cream indicates what?

You are having breakfast at Shoney’s or Denny’s

 

66. What ancient Greek god’s celebrations inspired Baby New Year?

Dionysus

 

67. Where in the world will you find the Mummers Parade on New Year’s in which participants perform a walk through the city in unique costumes?

Philadelphia

 

68. Kwanzaa is the tradition of African American, do you know the meaning of that?

First fruit

 

69. What is the name of the Iranian New Year day?

Norwuz

 

70. The Dutch believe eating what on New Year’s Day will bring good luck?

Donuts

 

71. Sanskar Padwa a New Year day celebrate in which region of India?

Goa

 

72. In New York, the peppermint version of this animal is smashed for best luck. Can you guess which animal it is?

A pig

 

73. The Baloch Hindu people in Pakistan and India celebrate New Year according to which Calendar?

Saaldar Calendar

 

74. The new year named Puthandu celebrates at which region of India?

Tamil Nadu

 

75. How many babies are born on New Year’s Day in the United States?

11,293 babies

 

76. New Year’s traditions originated from which Pagan holiday?

Saturnalia

 

77. Name the celebrity who was born January 1, 1895?

J. Edgar Hoover

 

78. According to Islamic Calendar new year occurs in which month?

Muharram

 

79. What is a custom for the head of the household to spank who on New Year’s day?

His wife

 

80. Which newspaper was the sponsor of the first-ever Times Square New Year’s party?

The New York Times

 

81. Before Thirteenth-century England and Germany which is style dating for New Year?

Christmas style and New Year start on 25 December

 

82. The tradition of eating Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day is believed to help restore world peace. True or false?

False

 

83. In which country Molybdomancy is a ritual practiced?

Finland

 

84. Name a warm, cider-like punch with English origins that used to be a popular New Year’s Eve drink?

Wassail

 

85. Which city in Europe hosts one of the largest New Year’s Eve celebrations?

Berlin

 

86.  How many people attend The New Year’s celebration in Berlin?

A million people

 

 

 

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