50 free August Fun Facts and trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free August Fun Facts and trivia questions with answers. Forty questions on August, the eighth month and one of high summer in the north, deep winter in the south. The first round is the month itself: how it got its name from Augustus, why it was once called Sextilis, the myth about its length, the peridot birthstone, the gladiolus, the Leo and Virgo signs, the Perseid meteors and the sultry 'dog days' named for the Dog Star. Then it turns to the events history stacked into August: Hiroshima, Woodstock, the March on Washington, Katrina, the Berlin Wall going up, the 19th Amendment, Krakatoa, Nixon's resignation, Indian independence and the launch of MTV. A run of famous August birthdays closes it out, from Napoleon and Louis Armstrong to Obama, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Coco Chanel. It works for a classroom, a quiz night or a monthly newsletter. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the month, the events and the people involved, and the sentence that establishes it is shown under each explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The month of August was renamed in 8 BC in honour of which Roman emperor?
Augustus
It had previously been called Sextilis, meaning 'sixth', because it was the sixth month in the old ten-month Roman calendar.
Q 02What was August originally called in the Roman calendar?
Sextilis
March was the first month back then, which is why the name means 'sixth' even though it is now the eighth month.
Q 03Who invented the myth that August gained a 31st day so Augustus could match Julius Caesar's July?
A 13th-century scholar
Sextilis already had 31 days long before the renaming; Johannes de Sacrobosco made up the tale much later.
Q 04August's best-known birthstone is which yellow-green gem?
Peridot
It is one of the very few gemstones that occur in only one colour, and some has even been found in meteorites.
Q 05Which flower is a birth flower of August?
Gladiolus
The poppy is also associated with the month; the gladiolus is said to signify strength of character.
Q 06The two Western zodiac signs that fall in August are Virgo and which other?
Leo
The lion sign runs until 22 August, after which Virgo the maiden begins.
Q 07The Perseid meteor shower, which peaks in mid-August, comes from debris left by which comet?
Swift-Tuttle
The meteors seem to stream from the constellation Perseus, which gives the shower its name.
Q 08The hot, sultry 'dog days' of August are named after the rising of which star?
Sirius
The Greeks called the Dog Star 'the Scorcher' and blamed it for summer heat, fever and even mad dogs.
Q 09In the Southern Hemisphere, August falls during which season?
Winter
It is the seasonal equivalent of February in the Northern Hemisphere.
Q 10On which day of August 1945 was the atomic bomb 'Little Boy' dropped on Hiroshima?
The 6th
A second bomb, the plutonium 'Fat Man', fell on Nagasaki three days later.
Q 11The Woodstock music festival of August 1969 was held on the New York dairy farm of whom?
Max Yasgur
The festival was named after a town about 60 miles away, and the site was actually in Bethel.
Q 12From the steps of which landmark did Martin Luther King Jr. give his 'I Have a Dream' speech?
The Lincoln Memorial
He departed from his script for the famous ending after gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out, 'Tell 'em about the dream, Martin!'
Q 13Elvis Presley died at Graceland on 16 August 1977 at what age?
42
His January birthday and August death bookend a life that reshaped popular music.
Q 21MTV launched in August 1981 with a debut clip whose title proved ironic. What was it?
Video Killed the Radio Star
The channel's early presenters were called VJs, for video jockeys; the title reads as a joke at MTV's own expense.
Q 22Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a Paris car crash on which date in 1997?
31 August
The accident happened in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel.
Q 23The Panama Canal opened to shipping in August of which year?
1914
The SS Ancon made the first official transit; the US had taken over the project a decade earlier.
Q 14Hurricane Katrina devastated the US Gulf Coast in late August 2005 after the failure of what?
The city's levees
It killed 1,392 people, making it the deadliest US hurricane since 1928.
Q 15Construction of the Berlin Wall began on which date in 1961?
13 August
It divided the city for 28 years until East Germany opened the border on 9 November 1989.
Q 16The 19th Amendment, giving American women the vote, took effect in August of which year?
1920
Tennessee provided the decisive 36th state ratification, and the adoption was certified on 26 August.
Q 17In 79 AD, an August eruption of which volcano buried Pompeii and Herculaneum?
Vesuvius
Roman sources record the eruption but not its exact day, so the traditional August date is debated.
Q 18The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, in late August, produced a sound heard how far away?
Nearly 3,000 miles
The blast was heard in Alice Springs, Australia and on Rodrigues Island near Mauritius; over 36,000 people died, mostly in the tsunamis.
Q 19India celebrates its Independence Day on which day of the month?
The 15th
The prime minister traditionally raises the flag and speaks from the Red Fort in Delhi.
Q 20Richard Nixon became the first US president to do what, in August 1974?
Resign from office
The Watergate cover-up forced him out before the House could complete his impeachment.
Q 24The US Open tennis tournament starts in late August at a park in which New York borough?
Queens
It is the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year, played on hard courts in Flushing Meadows.
Q 25The Little League World Series is held in South Williamsport. In which state is that?
Pennsylvania
It has taken place in South Williamsport since 1947, for players aged 10 to 12.
Q 26The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is held each August in which state?
South Dakota
It began in 1938 with a small group of Indian Motorcycle riders staging stunts and races.
Q 27The Edinburgh Fringe, held every August, holds what distinction?
World's largest performing arts event
It grew up alongside the official Edinburgh International Festival and now sprawls across the whole city.
Q 28The Catholic feast of the Assumption of Mary is celebrated on which day of the month?
The 15th
Pope Pius XII defined the dogma in 1950, and it is a public holiday in many Catholic countries.
Q 29Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon, was born in August 1930 in which state?
Ohio
He grew up near Wapakoneta and commanded Apollo 11 in 1969.
Q 30Which pop superstar, born on 16 August 1958 in Michigan, shares her first name with a religious figure?
Madonna
She moved to New York in 1978 to pursue a dance career before conquering pop.