50 Fun Facts About Prom

'Prom' is short for what kind of dance?

It is a formal dance for graduating high school students at the end of the year, at which a prom king and queen are usually voted for.

An 1894 journal describes an Amherst student invited to an early prom at which women's college?

Historians believe proms began at colleges in the late 19th century before high schools adopted them; yearbooks didn't cover them until the 1930s and 40s.

In the early 20th century, what simple form did the high school prom take?

By the 1920s and 30s it grew into a class banquet with dancing, and only in the prosperous 1950s did proms move to hotel ballrooms and country clubs.

Which First Daughter held her senior prom in the East Room of the White House in 1975?

She attended the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda and served as White House hostess when her mother was treated for breast cancer.

What is the small bouquet a date traditionally gives a girl to wear on her dress or wrist?

The word comes from the French bouquet de corsage, a bouquet worn on the bodice; the boy gets a matching flower for his lapel.

What is the flower a girl traditionally gives her date to wear on his lapel called?

Couples coordinate the two arrangements to signal they are together; at father-daughter dances dads wear one too.

What is a 'promposal'?

Documented examples include spelling 'Prom?' in pepperoni on a pizza, a flash mob and a hot-air balloon.

In a 2014 YouGov survey of men who went to prom, what percentage said they were the one who asked?

Of women surveyed, 29 percent said they had done the asking.

What are the extravagant pre-prom family gatherings, with red carpets and live music, called in the US?

They emerged in the 2010s; the afterglow or post-prom is the party held afterwards, sometimes at the school to deter misbehaviour.

Per the Daily Telegraph in 2012, roughly what share of British schools held proms?

UK proms only became common in the 2000s under the influence of American TV, replacing the old leavers' ball and school disco.

At Scottish school formals, what do boys usually wear?

Highland dress outfitters often sell out around prom season, and traditional Scottish country dancing is part of the night.

What is the Polish equivalent of prom, held about a hundred days before final exams, called?

The name means 'hundred-day', and the first dance is almost always a polonaise that students rehearse beforehand.

Finnish second-year students learn old ballroom dances such as the mazurka for which February ball?

The name means 'ball of the old', because once the third-years leave to study, the second-years become the school's seniors.

Which traditional dance opens the Danish prom, known as the galla?

The seniors start it and the younger years join in; 'galla' refers to the dress code of gowns and suits.

At Hungary's szalagavató ball, what do students receive to mark the start of graduation preparations?

The name means 'inauguration of ribbons', and many students wear theirs on their jackets until graduation.

In most of the Republic of Ireland, what is a school leavers' dance called?

It is short for debutante ball; boys' and mixed schools may call it a Grads, and Donegal says 'the Prom' like the rest of Ulster.

What is the South African equivalent of prom, held in the final year of high school, called?

Grade 11 students usually organise it, and its cost has been compared to some people's weddings.

In Belgium, seniors mark their last 100 days of school with pranks and a party known as what?

Traditional outfits include blue jeans, a black hat and a whistle, plus a spray can for 'attacking' non-seniors.

In the Philippines, what is the junior-senior dance commonly abbreviated to?

Where schools hold separate dances, the seniors' event is called the graduation ball and the king and queen are judged on beauty rather than popularity.

In Carrie, what is dumped on the title character after she is crowned prom queen?

Chris and Billy slaughtered pigs at a farm to fill the bucket, and rigged the ballots so Carrie would win.

Who plays Carrie White in the 1976 film?

Her husband encouraged her to audition, and Brian De Palma pushed the studio for permission to direct King's first published novel.

Who did Andie end up with in Pretty in Pink's original ending, which test audiences booed?

John Hughes reshot the ending in one day months later; Andrew McCarthy had lost weight and cut his hair, so he wore a wig.

Pretty in Pink takes its title from a song by which band?

They re-recorded it for the soundtrack, whose OMD track 'If You Leave' hit number four in the US.

In Footloose, why does Ren McCormack challenge the town's dancing ban?

The film is loosely based on a real Oklahoma town which had banned dancing since its founding in 1898.

Which real town, which had banned dancing since 1898, loosely inspired Footloose?

A local reverend insisted 'no good has ever come from a dance'; the film renamed the town Bomont and moved it to Utah.

In Napoleon Dynamite, which song does Napoleon dance to in the routine that wins Pedro the vote?

He learned from a tape called D-Qwon's Dance Grooves and got the mixtape from Kip's girlfriend LaFawnduh.

At which real Idaho high school was Napoleon Dynamite filmed?

Director Jared Hess expanded it from his short film Peluca, and Fox Searchlight bought it at Sundance in 2004.

In She's All That, Zack bets he can turn nerdy Laney Boggs into what within six weeks?

The film hit number one on release, and Sixpence None the Richer's 'Kiss Me' spent 16 weeks in the top 10 after featuring in it.

10 Things I Hate About You is based on which Shakespeare play?

Heath Ledger was cast just three and a half weeks before shooting in Tacoma and Seattle.

Which Frankie Valli song does Patrick sing to win Kat over in 10 Things I Hate About You?

She repays him by helping him sneak out of detention, but grows suspicious when he insists she come to prom.

At the end of Twilight, what does Edward refuse to do when Bella asks him at the prom?

Neither notices James's mate Victoria watching from the shadows and plotting revenge.

What is the name of the end-of-year dance at which Cady is elected queen in Mean Girls?

She breaks her plastic crown into pieces and shares them out, a scene Aimee Lou Wood later invoked in a BAFTA speech.

In Never Been Kissed, why does 25-year-old Josie Geller go back to high school?

Her flashbacks reveal a prom disaster in which her date Billy Prince turned up with another girl.

Which scream queen's casting got the 1980 slasher Prom Night its financing?

She was paid $30,000; Eve Plumb of The Brady Bunch had been slated for another role until Curtis's manager called.

Why were Prom Night's dance-floor songs written from scratch in five days?

Composers Zaza and Zittrer produced soundalikes of the tracks the actors had already danced to on set.

Which Halloween producer suggested Paul Lynch make a horror film built around a holiday, leading to Prom Night?

Lynch's writer instead adapted a revenge story and used a school prom as the unifying setting; it was shot in Toronto in 1979.

Which Broadway musical has four fading actors help an Indiana student banned from taking her girlfriend to prom?

It was inspired by a real 2010 case in Mississippi, and became a Ryan Murphy Netflix film with Meryl Streep.

Which Mississippi student's 2010 fight to bring her girlfriend to prom inspired the musical The Prom?

She and the ACLU sued the Itawamba school district and a federal court found her rights had been violated.

Disney's 2011 film Prom was the first major theatrical production shot with which cameras?

Disney developed it after the success of High School Musical 3, pitching it 'in the vein of John Hughes and Cameron Crowe' on a $5-10 million budget.

In Grease, the big Rydell High dance is broadcast live by which fictional TV show?

Danny wins the dance contest with Cha-Cha after Sandy is shoved off the floor, and the T-Birds moon the cameras.

How much did the 2008 remake of Prom Night gross worldwide?

It opened at number one and starred Brittany Snow and Idris Elba as the fifth and final film in the series.

By the early 21st century, US prom had become what scale of business?

Families spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on dresses, tuxes, limos and party buses.

Why are Russian and Belarusian proms never held on the 21st or 22nd of their usual month?

Proms had taken place on 21 June 1941; the next day the German invasion began and all graduates went to fight.

Slovakia's Stužková, held in November or December, is named after what item each senior receives?

The principal and class teacher get big green ribbons too, and many students wear theirs until graduation.

What is the traditional first dance at Poland's studniówka?

The word means 'of or relating to 100 days', since the ball falls about 100 days before the matura exams.

What Romanian word, meaning 'hatchlings', names the dances held for newly enrolled students?

Graduation balls are held too; both are usually informal and may be staged in the school gym or auditorium.

Estonia's equivalent of prom, the Saja päeva ball, takes place how long before graduation?

Several schools may organise it together, and events beyond ballroom dancing can be included.

Which event planning company staged Paris's 'Solidarity Prom Ball' for over 300 students in June 2013?

Sponsors covered food, venue, limousines and gift bags for free; rap acts Psy4 de la Rime and Alibi Montana performed.

In Egyptian private schools, how long at most does the teacher-attended prom last?

No teachers or parents are allowed at the after-prom, which can run until 4 or 5 am.

At the end of Bangladesh's 'Rag Day', graduating students mark the occasion by doing what?

They wear matching white T-shirts, which end up covered in colours and signatures from classmates.