A Christmas Quiz

I didn’t know a number of these interesting tidbits. How well will you do?

CHRISTMAS QUIZ
(Answers at End, no peeking)

1. What British monarch ordered ginger cakes made to resemble friends and family members the precursors of today’s gingerbread men?

2. In what country was the turkey first domesticated?

3. What traditional Christmas beverage takes its name from the Saxon word meaning “wish of health”?

4. How big was the turkey Scrooge bought for the Cratchits?

5. Dr. Joel Robert Poinsett brought the first “poinsettia” plant to the U.S. from Mexico in 1828. What was he?

6. Vaccinium macrocarpon is the botanical name for what Christmas-associated plant?

7. What did NASA workers sneak on board Apollo 8 as stocking-stuffers for their Christmas moon mission?

8. What is the most popular Christmastime dessert in Japan?

9. What are polkagris?

10. Mistletoe was used in pre-Christian times as…

11. Name the 3 Wise Men.

12. Who wrote the Bing Crosby hit “White Christmas”?

13. In “The Grinch that Stole Christmas”, was was the Grinch’s heart full of?

14. How many lights were used this year (2015) to illuminate the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center in NYC?

15. In what year was Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol” first published?

16. What did O.J. Simpson give Nicol Brown Simpson for Christmas in 1993?

17. What happened at the St. Nicholas church in Arnsdorf, Austria, in 1817 which prompted church organist Father Joseph Mohr and music teacher Franz Gruber to compose “Stille Nacht” (Silent Night)?

18. Why did the Massachussets Public Health Dept. issue a warning against kissing under the mistletoe in 1969?

19. What Christmas object did Edward Johnson invent in 1882?

20. In 1986, the Irish Rovers released a Christmas novelty song originally recorded by an American duo named Elmo and Patsy. Name that tune.

21. What country blocked the entry of Marie Osmond and The Pointer Sisters on Bob Hope’s 1990 holiday tour to entertain U.S. troops?

22. The first artificial (polyvinyl) Christmas trees made their appearance in which 20th-century decade?

23. Gene Autry’s association with the song “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” is well known, but the singing cowboy wrote and recorded another Christmas hit in 1949 which went on to be recorded by more than 300 other artists (including Elvis) and to sell more than 80 million copies. What was/is this famous song?

24. When/where did silver foil “icicles” first appeared?

25. Which of the following is St. Nicholas NOT associated with? A. children; B. thieves; C. scholars; D. virgins; E. musicians

ANSWERS

1. Queen Elizabeth 1
2. Mexico
3. Wassail
4. Twice the size of Tiny Tim
5. The first U.S. ambassador to Mexico
6. The American cranberry
7. Three bottles of brandy
8. French style strawberry shortcake
9. Swedish candy cane
10. Being associated with fertility, it was supposed to be a cure for sterility
11. Kaspar, Melchior, Balthazar
12. Irving Berlin
13. Dirty stockings
14. 45,000 LED lights.
15. 1843
16. 6K diamond earrings
17. The organ was broken; a mouse chewed the bellows (Silent Night was originally composed as an a cappella piece).
18. To prevent a spread of mononucleosis.
19. Christmas tree lights
20. “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”
21. Saudi Arabia
22. 1960s
23. “Here Comes Santa Claus”
24. In Germany, in the late 1870s.
25. E

And to all a good night!

Stadtturm, Innsbruck, Austria at Christmas