88 Fun Facts About Anniversary

Which Philadelphia landmark carries a verse from the biblical Jubilee law in Leviticus?

The Liberty Bell carries its verse from Leviticus 25, and 1830s abolitionists adopted the old State House bell as a symbol and gave it its name.

Which anniversary is traditionally marked with silver?

25th is the silver anniversary, and guests were once expected to send silver, so a 19th-century etiquette guide welcomed invitations adding 'No presents received'.

What is the formal name for a 150th anniversary?

Sesquicentennial joins Latin sesqui, 'one and a half', to centennial, and Philadelphia's 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition flopped amid heavy rain and thin crowds.

Queen Victoria's 1897 Diamond Jubilee thanksgiving service was held outside which London church?

St Paul's Cathedral: Victoria, too frail to manage its steps, stayed in her carriage, so the short service was held outside the building.

Which punk band's 'God Save the Queen' was banned by the BBC during the 1977 Silver Jubilee?

The Sex Pistols tried playing it from a boat on the Thames on the Jubilee holiday, and police arrested their manager Malcolm McLaren and others when it docked.

What is the traditional gift for a first wedding anniversary?

Paper is the first-anniversary gift, and a 1922 etiquette guide said presents for the earliest anniversaries were seldom anything but jokes.

What is the traditional gift for a fifth anniversary?

Wood marks the fifth, and an 1880s etiquette guide said the wooden wedding began in jest, with presents like a step-ladder and a rolling pin.

What is the traditional gift for a tenth anniversary?

Tin marks the tenth, and 1880s tin weddings were a frolic: one father-in-law sent the bride a check labelled 'Tin' in a tin pocket-book.

By the early 1900s, which material was suggested for the twentieth anniversary?

China marks the 20th, and 1920s etiquette advised inviting only close friends and family to anniversary parties, because guests were expected to send presents.

Which material do traditional lists give for a 15th wedding anniversary?

Crystal marks the 15th, and a 1922 etiquette guide called it the earliest anniversary present that guests were likely to take seriously.

The custom of silver and gold wedding anniversaries appears to have begun in which part of Europe?

The Germanic lands: at a silver wedding there, the wife was given a silver wreath, and at a golden wedding, a gold one.

Whose 1922 etiquette book listed gifts for anniversaries at 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50 and 75 years?

Emily Post: long before her 1922 Etiquette gave that list, she had divorced her husband over his extramarital affairs.

Catholic couples can order what from the Vatican almoner's office for a milestone wedding anniversary?

A papal blessing parchment: the Office of Papal Charities sells them online or at St Anne's Gate, and all proceeds go to its charity for the poor.

Which gemstone is the traditional gift for a 55th wedding anniversary?

Emerald is the traditional 55th-anniversary gem, though the Gemological Institute of America's modern list gives emerald to the 20th and 35th anniversaries instead.

The word 'jubilee' comes from the Hebrew name for what object?

A ram's horn: Hebrew yovel named the trumpet that proclaimed the year, but Latin reshaped the word after iubilare, 'to shout for joy', giving jubilee its happy sense.

Instead of a crown, what did Queen Victoria wear in her 1887 Golden Jubilee procession?

A bonnet: Victoria refused to wear a crown, and she had begun the jubilee with breakfast under the trees at Frogmore, where Prince Albert lay buried.

Which British king celebrated his golden jubilee a year early, in 1809?

George III held his jubilee on 25 October 1809, the day he entered the fiftieth year of his reign; he died in January 1820, nine months short of sixty years.

Which Take That star co-wrote 'Sing', the 2012 Diamond Jubilee single?

Gary Barlow wrote it with Andrew Lloyd Webber, then travelled the Commonwealth, from the Caribbean to the Pacific, to record musicians for it.

What dessert won the official pudding competition for the 2022 Jubilee?

A lemon Swiss roll trifle by Jemma Melvin won; she built it around lemon after learning that the Queen had lemon posset at her wedding.

What is the biblical Jubilee, described in Leviticus?

A fiftieth year of release and land return, which rabbinic tradition says was meant to keep each tribe's original share of the land intact.

Operation Sail and the American Freedom Train celebrated which US milestone?

200 years of independence in 1976: to help pull the Freedom Train, a steam locomotive long retired to a Portland park display was restored to working order.

Which material is the traditional gift for an 80th wedding anniversary?

Oak is the 80th-anniversary material on the traditional list, the hardwood chosen for the strength and endurance of an eighty-year marriage.

The modern honeymoon developed from which upper-class custom in early 19th-century Britain?

The bridal tour to visit relatives: the custom soon spread to France, where from the 1820s it was known as the voyage à la façon anglaise.

The diamond eternity ring was invented as a marketing idea in the 1960s by which company?

De Beers devised the diamond eternity ring in the 1960s as a way to sell the small Siberian stones it was obliged to buy from the Soviet Union under a supply deal.

Why is a wedding ring traditionally worn on the left hand's fourth finger?

A vein running straight to the heart was the belief, though the Roman writer Macrobius spoke of a nerve, and the name vena amoris dates only from a 1686 English treatise.

Rubies and sapphires are both varieties of which mineral?

Corundum, crystalline aluminium oxide, is the mineral behind both: chromium traces make it ruby red, while iron and titanium give sapphire its blue.

Which valley in Myanmar was for centuries the world's main source of rubies?

Mogok, in Myanmar's Mandalay Region, supplied the world's finest rubies for centuries; its deep red 'pigeon's blood' shade became the benchmark for the gem.

Emerald is a green variety of which mineral?

Beryl is the mineral, and the element beryllium is named after it because Vauquelin found the new element in beryl and emerald in 1798.

Which country is historically the world's largest producer of emeralds?

Colombia: its emeralds were part of the plunder when 16th-century Spanish invaders reached the New World.

Diamond is a crystalline form of which element?

Carbon: in the 1790s chemist Smithson Tennant burned a diamond and found it gave off only carbon dioxide, proving the gem is pure carbon.

Where were diamonds first recognised and mined?

India: diamonds were gathered from its rivers, and only as Indian supplies declined in the 1700s did Brazil emerge as the next great supplier.

The name Margaret comes, via Greek, from a word meaning what?

Pearl: Greek margarites gave Latin Margarita, and the French word for the daisy, marguerite, comes straight from that same 'pearl' sense.

Which Japanese entrepreneur is associated with the early large-scale culturing of pearls?

Kokichi Mikimoto: to prove his company sold only fine cultured pearls, he publicly shovelled inferior ones into a fire.

Which gemstone sat at the centre of Lady Diana Spencer's 1981 engagement ring?

Sapphire: Diana's 12-carat Ceylon sapphire ring came straight from Garrard's catalogue, a stock design anyone could buy.

Which planned London Underground line was renamed the Jubilee line in 1977?

The Fleet line took the Jubilee name for the 1977 Silver Jubilee, with a silver map colour, though the line did not open until 1979.

The 2012 Diamond Jubilee river pageant was billed as a flotilla of how many boats?

1,000: the 2012 Thames pageant was billed as a thousand-boat flotilla, the largest on the river in 350 years, yet about 670 vessels actually took part.

In a short film for the 2022 Platinum Jubilee, the Queen took tea with which fictional character?

Paddington Bear, voiced by Ben Whishaw, took tea with her in a sketch the Queen filmed at Windsor Castle and kept secret even from some of her family.

What happened for the first time in every Commonwealth capital during the 2022 celebrations?

Beacons had long been lit across Britain for jubilees; extending them to every Commonwealth capital was new.

The Eiffel Tower was built as the centrepiece of an 1889 world's fair marking the centennial of which event?

The French Revolution turned 100 in 1889, and the tower raised for the party was meant to be temporary: it was slated to be dismantled in 1909.

Which landmark's roadway visibly flattened in 1987 when about 300,000 people crowded on for a 50th anniversary walk?

Golden Gate Bridge officials said the centre span is designed to flex under such loads, but they ruled out a repeat of the open walk when the crossing turned 75 in 2012.

Which keepsake do many couples put away on the day they marry to share on their first anniversary?

Part of the cake was first kept for a different party: fruitcake stored well, so the top was saved for the first baby's christening long before freezers made the anniversary slice popular.

A torsion pendulum 'anniversary clock' earned its nickname because it needs what only about once a year?

Winding once a year is enough because the rotating pendulum turns so slowly that it uses very little energy, which is why the same design is also sold as the 400-day clock.

Which former first couple of the United States became the first to pass 75 years of marriage?

The Carters married in 1946, shortly after Jimmy graduated from the Naval Academy, and stayed together for 77 years, until Rosalynn's death in 2023.

Auguste Escoffier is credited with creating which flambéed dessert for one of Queen Victoria's milestone celebrations?

Cherries jubilee is widely thought to date from the queen's 1897 celebrations: the fruit is flambéed in liqueur at the table and usually spooned over vanilla ice cream.

Which ride debuted at Chicago's 1893 world's fair, held to mark 400 years since Columbus reached the Americas?

The Ferris wheel was designed to rival the tower Paris had unveiled four years earlier; the original stood 264 feet tall and was the fair's tallest attraction.

Which sci-fi series marked its 50th anniversary in 2013 with a special broadcast simultaneously in 94 countries?

Doctor Who set a Guinness World Record for the largest simulcast of a TV drama with The Day of the Doctor, which was also screened in cinemas.

Which Hollywood star was married to actress Joanne Woodward for 50 years, until his death in 2008?

Paul Newman met her in 1953, when she was an understudy on his first Broadway play, and they married in 1958, the year they co-starred in The Long, Hot Summer.

The phrase 'seven-year itch', for a restless marriage, gained popularity from a 1955 film starring which actress?

Marilyn Monroe shot her famous billowing white-dress scene for The Seven Year Itch; before the 1952 play it was based on, the phrase meant a skin complaint such as scabies.

In the 20th-anniversary edition of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the federal agents' guns were swapped for what?

Walkie-talkies went into the agents' hands for the 2002 re-release, a change Steven Spielberg later said he regretted because a film should stand as a record of its time.

Google's first playable Doodle, in 2010, marked the 30th anniversary of which arcade game?

Pac-Man took over the home page with a working maze built from the letters of the word Google, made together with the game's publisher, Namco.

Elizabeth II, the first British monarch to reach a platinum wedding anniversary, married Prince Philip in which church?

Westminster Abbey hosted the wedding in November 1947; a day later the bouquet was sent back to lie on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, a custom begun by the bride's mother.

Which material marks a third wedding anniversary on both the American and the British traditional gift lists?

Leather holds year three on both lists, though one early-1900s list pushed it back a year and suggested candy for the third instead.

Which city lost the vote for the 1996 Centennial Olympics to Atlanta, a century after staging the first modern Games?

Athens insisted the 100th birthday belonged at home, but its bid was judged arrogant and poorly prepared; the Games did not go back to Greece until 2004.

Which country shares with Denmark the custom of a 'copper wedding' party after twelve and a half years of marriage?

The Netherlands and Denmark both stop to celebrate at the half-way point to a silver wedding, a milestone that is rarely marked anywhere else in the world.

Which singer gave the title The Anniversary Song to his 1946 adaptation of a Romanian waltz, Waves of the Danube?

Al Jolson and Saul Chaplin put words to Ion Ivanovici's 1880 melody; it is often mixed up with The Anniversary Waltz, a different song from 1941.

Which British player won the Wimbledon women's singles in 1977, the Silver Jubilee year and the tournament's centenary?

Virginia Wade beat Betty Stöve in three sets, nine days before her 32nd birthday, with the Queen watching a Wimbledon final for the first time since 1962.

Which US state is nicknamed the Centennial State because it joined the Union in 1876, a hundred years after 1776?

Colorado became the 38th state when Ulysses S. Grant signed its admission on 1 August 1876, just four weeks after the country's hundredth birthday.

Which video game heroine starred in a 2007 remake subtitled Anniversary, made to mark her series' tenth year?

Lara Croft went back to the plot of the first Tomb Raider from 1996, a remake that sends her after the Scion of Atlantis once more.

On the traditional American gift list, which fabric marks a 13th wedding anniversary, the year after silk?

Lace takes year 13 on the American list, following silk in year 12 and, less delicately, steel in year 11.

Which organic gem, valued in jewellery since antiquity, marks a 35th wedding anniversary on traditional gift lists?

Coral for jewellery is the hard red or pink skeleton of tiny sea animals, and the classic precious kind is found mainly in the Mediterranean.

Which spring flower, the national flower of Wales, do florists link with a tenth wedding anniversary?

Daffodil bunches are the florists' pick for a first decade: one bloom is small, but together they stand for many little memories adding up to a shared life.

The word anniversary, first used in English mostly for death days, joins the Latin for 'year' to a verb meaning what?

To turn is the sense of the Latin vertere, so an anniversary is the day the year comes back round; around 1200 the English word mainly meant the date of a death or a saint's martyrdom.

The Shah of Iran's lavish 1971 party marking 2,500 years of monarchy was held beside which ancient ruins?

Persepolis gained a tent city for the guests, and Maxim's of Paris shut its own restaurant for almost two weeks to cater the banquets.

The 1951 Festival of Britain grew out of a plan to mark the centenary of which Victorian event?

The Great Exhibition of 1851 drew six million visitors to Hyde Park, equal to a third of the population of England and Wales at the time.

In a Catholic jubilee year, the pope opens which normally sealed entrance at St Peter's Basilica for pilgrims?

The Holy Door is sealed from the inside with mortar and cement between jubilees, and pilgrims who walk through it in a holy year can gain a special indulgence.

Which actress earned an Oscar nomination for 45 Years, a 2015 drama about a couple planning an anniversary party?

Charlotte Rampling plays Kate, whose party planning is upended when a letter says the body of her husband's first love has appeared in a melting Swiss glacier.

Which R&B group reached the US top ten in 1993 with Anniversary, a single from the album Sons of Soul?

Tony! Toni! Toné! took the love song to number ten on the Hot 100; it was written by group member Raphael Wiggins with keyboardist Carl Wheeler.

Which Hollywood legend played one-eyed Mrs Taggart in The Anniversary, a 1968 black comedy from Hammer Films?

Bette Davis at first turned the part down, and once filming began she found the stick-on eye patches a constant irritant that even upset her balance.

Michael Jackson first performed the moonwalk on a 1983 TV special celebrating 25 years of which record label?

Motown gathered its stars for the show, and the moonwalk came during Billie Jean, the only song of the night that was not one of the label's own.

Which 2005 run of benefit concerts came 20 years after Bob Geldof's famous famine-relief shows?

Live 8 put on shows in the G8 countries and South Africa on 2 July 2005, days before the leaders met at Gleneagles in Scotland, and the date also fell 20 years after Live Aid.

Which blockbuster returned to cinemas in 3D in April 2012, a century after the disaster it depicts?

Titanic passed two billion dollars at the box office during that re-release, on the very weekend that marked 100 years since the ship went down.

The World Year of Physics in 2005 marked 100 years since which scientist's 'miracle year' of groundbreaking work?

Albert Einstein published four landmark articles in 1905, and the centenary celebrations were also branded simply as Einstein Year.

Which sport's 1977 Centenary Test in Melbourne ended with exactly the same winning margin as the first match in 1877?

Cricket rarely scripts it better: Australia beat England by 45 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1877, and by 45 runs again a hundred years later.

Which country gives each of its provinces, such as Otago and Canterbury, its own public holiday called Anniversary Day?

New Zealand has kept the days since the 1840s, when they marked the arrival of each province's first settlers; Wellington's was soon being compared to an English fair.

Which English poet wrote the two long elegies known as the Anniversaries for Elizabeth Drury, his patron's daughter?

John Donne wrote An Anatomy of the World in 1611 and Of the Progress of the Soul in 1612 for Sir Robert Drury, who housed the poet's family in his large home on Drury Lane.

Which actor staged the 1769 Shakespeare Jubilee in Stratford-upon-Avon, where heavy rain washed out the grand pageant?

David Garrick, the most famous Shakespearean actor of his day, watched the River Avon burst its banks and flood the festival's Rotunda on the second day.

Which word for a 125th anniversary was coined in 1961 by an editor at the dictionary publisher Funk & Wagnalls?

Quasquicentennial was built by editor Robert Chapman from a Latin scrap meaning 'and a quarter', bolted on to centennial.

Which city hosted Expo 67, the world's fair that was Canada's main celebration of its centennial year?

Montreal drew 569,500 visitors to the fair on its third day alone, and the city's baseball team, the Expos, was later named in its honour.

France gave the United States which monument to honour the centennial of 1776, though it was dedicated a decade late?

The Statue of Liberty was not dedicated until October 1886; in the centennial year itself only its arm and torch went on show, at the Centennial Exposition.

Some churches invite all their married couples to renew their vows together each year on which day?

Valentine's Day services are one example; couples also choose to renew their vows after coming through a hard patch or to mark a big anniversary.

In the early 1900s, which humble farm material did gift lists suggest for a couple's second wedding anniversary?

Straw was the early-1900s idea for year two, in the days before jewellers and card makers settled the lists; the same advice proposed flowers for the seventh.

Which material, listed for a 14th anniversary on older American lists, is replaced by gold jewellery on newer ones?

Ivory is the traditional entry on the list compiled by Chicago librarians, which offers gold jewellery as the modern choice; Hallmark's list for year 14 prints only the gold.

Which flower, handed out in American churches on Mother's Day, do florists pair with a first wedding anniversary?

Carnation blooms, florists say, have long stood for young and passionate love, which is why they open the list of anniversary flowers.

Which proverbial pair, first named in a 1735 poem, are the British byword for a quietly devoted married couple?

Darby and Joan are thought to have been real people: the poem is credited to Henry Woodfall, once apprenticed to a London printer called Darby, whose wife was Joan.

Which jeweller made the Fifteenth Anniversary Egg that Tsar Nicholas II gave his wife Alexandra at Easter 1911?

Fabergé worked to a standing order from the tsar for two jewelled Easter eggs every year, one for his wife and one for his mother.

The 1904 world's fair in St. Louis celebrated, one year late, the centennial of which American land deal?

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 was due its party in 1903, but the opening was put back to April 1904 so that more states and foreign countries could take part.

Which emperor staged lavish games in AD 248 to mark Rome's thousandth anniversary?

Philip the Arab, born in what is now Syria, held large-scale festivals and games for Rome's first millennium; the following year his general Decius was proclaimed emperor and marched on the city.

Which capital opened mainland Europe's first electric underground in 1896 for its nation's thousandth anniversary?

Budapest named the line the Millennium Underground, marking a thousand years since the Magyars arrived; Emperor Franz Joseph opened it, and only London had an older electric line.