160 free Month of May trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free month of May trivia questions with answers. Forty questions on the month of May, spring in the north and autumn in the south. The first round is the month itself: the goddess Maia behind its name, Ovid's rival theory, the emerald birthstone, the poisonous lily of the valley, the Taurus and Gemini signs, and how May bookends the American summer with Labor Day. Then come the days people actually mark: May Day and Beltane, Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, the Kentucky Derby, the Indy 500 and its bottle of milk, Star Wars Day, Eurovision, Victoria Day and Golden Week. A run of famous May events closes it out, from Lindbergh's flight and the Golden Gate Bridge to Everest, the Lusitania, Napoleon's death and Sgt. Pepper. It suits a classroom, a quiz night or a monthly newsletter. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the month, the holidays and the events involved, and the sentence that establishes it is shown under each explanation.
30 of 160 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The month of May is generally thought to be named after which Greek goddess?
Maia
She was one of the Pleiades and mother of Hermes, and was identified with a Roman fertility goddess whose festival fell in May.
Q 02Ovid said May honours the 'maiores'. What does that word mean?
Elders
By his logic June is named for the iuniores, the young people.
Q 03How many days does May have?
31
It is one of the seven long months and always has the same length.
Q 04May's birthstone is which green gem?
Emerald
It is a variety of the mineral beryl, coloured green by traces of chromium or vanadium.
Q 05One of May's birth flowers, the lily of the valley, is notable for being what?
Highly poisonous
Its cardiac glycosides make it dangerous to eat; other names for it include May bells and Our Lady's tears.
Q 06May's later sign is the twins; which zodiac sign covers the first three weeks of the month?
Taurus
The bull sign runs until 20 May, when the twins take over.
Q 07Which zodiac sign, beginning around 21 May, is represented by twins?
Gemini
The twins are Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri of Greek myth.
Q 08In the Southern Hemisphere, May is the seasonal equivalent of which Northern Hemisphere month?
November
May is spring in the north and autumn in the south.
Q 09May Day traditions include dancing around what?
A maypole
Other customs include gathering greenery, 'bringing in the May' and crowning a May Queen.
Q 10International Workers' Day shares its 1 May date with May Day but is rooted in what?
The labour movement
The traditional spring festival of May Day is much older than the labour holiday.
Q 11Cinco de Mayo, on 5 May, celebrates Mexico's 1862 victory over French forces near which city?
Puebla
It is not Mexican Independence Day, a common misconception; that is 16 September.
Q 12Mother's Day in the United States, on the second Sunday of May, was largely founded by whom?
Anna Jarvis
She held the first service in 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia, and later fought against the holiday's commercialisation.
Q 13President Woodrow Wilson made Mother's Day a national holiday in which year?
1914
He signed a proclamation fixing it on the second Sunday in May.
Q 21The Eurovision Song Contest, usually held in May, has been running annually since which year?
1956
It is the longest-running international music competition on television, inspired by Italy's Sanremo Festival.
Q 22As of the 2025 contest, which two countries held the Eurovision record of seven wins each?
Ireland and Sweden
By 2025 Germany had competed the most times, missing only one contest.
Q 23A Canadian holiday held each May honours a monarch called the 'Mother of Confederation'. Who?
Queen Victoria
It falls on the last Monday before 25 May, her actual birthday.
Q 14Memorial Day, the unofficial start of the US summer, falls on which day of May?
The last Monday
It was fixed as a Monday holiday in 1968; it began after the Civil War as Decoration Day.
Q 15Memorial Day began in 1868 under what earlier name?
Decoration Day
People decorated the graves of Civil War dead with flowers, which gave the day its first name.
Q 16The Kentucky Derby, run on the first Saturday in May, is nicknamed 'The Run for the ___'.
Roses
The winning horse is draped in a blanket of roses; the race lasts only about two minutes.
Q 17The first Kentucky Derby, in May 1875, was run at which track?
Churchill Downs
A field of 15 three-year-olds ran before a crowd of about 10,000 in Louisville.
Q 18What does the Indianapolis 500 winner traditionally drink in victory lane?
Milk
The tradition began when Louis Meyer asked for buttermilk after his 1933 win.
Q 19The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is nicknamed the 'Brickyard' because of what?
It was first paved in brick
The surface was laid in brick in 1909, and a strip of the original bricks survives at the start-finish line.
Q 20Star Wars Day is celebrated on 4 May because of a pun on which catchphrase?
May the Force be with you
'May the Fourth be with you' was first recorded in a 1979 newspaper congratulating Margaret Thatcher.
Q 24International Nurses Day is observed on 12 May because it is the birthday of whom?
Florence Nightingale
The pioneer of modern nursing was born in Florence, Italy, and became known as 'The Lady with the Lamp'.
Q 25The founder of modern nursing was born in 1820 in which Italian city, which gave her her first name?
Florence
Her parents were on a European tour when she was born there.
Q 26Japan's spring 'Golden Week' cluster of public holidays runs from 29 April to which May date?
5 May
It ends on Children's Day; the sheer number of holidays makes it one of the country's busiest travel periods.
Q 27The Christian feast of the Ascension is traditionally held on a Thursday how many days after Easter?
40
It commemorates the belief that the risen Jesus appeared for 40 days before ascending to heaven.
Q 28Charles Lindbergh flew solo nonstop from New York to Paris in May 1927 aboard which aircraft?
The Spirit of St. Louis
He flew alone for over 33 hours to win the $25,000 Orteig Prize.
Q 29The Golden Gate Bridge opened in May 1937 painted in which distinctive colour?
International Orange
The US Navy had wanted black and yellow stripes; the chief engineer's orange won out.
Q 30When it opened in May 1883, the Brooklyn crossing was the world's longest span of which kind?
Suspension bridge
It was the first fixed crossing of New York's East River.