September Trivia
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177 free September trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
55 free September trivia questions with answers. This trivia about September covers the whole month, not just the first day of school. It starts with the basics of the calendar (why a month named for seven is ninth, the sapphire and the aster, Virgo and Libra, when the equinox and Harvest Moon fall) and moves through the observances: Labor Day and Grandparents Day, Constitution Day, Patriot Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, Rosh Hashanah, Oktoberfest, Michaelmas, Talk Like a Pirate Day, Hobbit Day and the New Year of Ethiopia. Then it turns to September in history and culture: the eleven days Britain skipped in 1752, the start and end of World War II, Antietam, the Great Fire of London, the discovery of Neptune, Cal Ripken's streak, Star Trek's premiere, Google's founding, and the 21st night that Earth, Wind & Fire made famous. Use it for a back-to-school icebreaker, a September birthday party, a senior-centre round or a pub quiz's month-themed section. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia and primary sources, and each question shows its citation once you have answered.
30 of 177 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01September's name comes from the Latin word for which number?
Seven
It was the seventh month of the old Roman calendar, which began in March; when January and February were added it slid to ninth but kept the name.
Q 02How many days does September have?
30
September has 30 days; it had 29 in the Roman republican calendar until Julius Caesar's reform of 46 BC added one.
Q 03What is September's birthstone?
Sapphire
The name comes via Latin from a Greek word that originally referred to lapis lazuli, a different blue stone entirely.
Q 04Which of these is one of September's birth flowers?
Aster
Aster is a September birth flower, alongside the morning glory; the marigold belongs to October and the daffodil to March.
Q 05Someone born on September 25 falls under which zodiac sign?
Libra
Virgo runs to September 22, and Libra takes over on the 23rd.
Q 06In the Northern Hemisphere, meteorological autumn begins on which day of the month?
The 1st
Astronomers wait for the equinox around the 22nd; meteorologists prefer whole calendar months, so their seasons start on the first.
Q 07Because the calendar year and the tropical year differ, the September equinox can fall on any date within which range?
The 21st to the 24th
The 21st to the 24th of September; the drift comes from the mismatch between calendar and tropical year, corrected by leap years.
Q 08The Harvest Moon is defined as the full moon that occurs when?
Nearest the autumnal equinox
It can land up to two weeks either side of the equinox, so some years the Harvest Moon is actually in October, and the next full moon is the Hunter's Moon.
Q 09When Britain went Gregorian in 1752, the 2nd of the month was immediately followed by which day?
The 14th
The 2nd was followed by the 14th: eleven days vanished, and the same Calendar Act moved New Year's Day from March 25 to January 1.
Q 10Per US birth statistics from 1994 to 2014, the most common birthday falls on which day of the month?
The 9th
Nine of the ten most common birthdays are in September, roughly nine months after the winter holidays; September 1 is the least common date in the month.
Q 11In which year did the 'Eternal September' begin, when commercial providers flooded Usenet with new users?
1993
1993: that September AOL gave its subscribers Usenet access and the newcomer flood never ended; before that the only yearly surge came when university students got their first accounts.
Q 12In the United States, Labor Day is celebrated on which day of the month?
The first Monday
The Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor organised the first parade in New York City; it became a federal holiday in 1894.
Q 13In the US, National Grandparents Day falls in September on which day?
The first Sunday after Labor Day
Q 21What instrument is sounded during Rosh Hashanah?
A shofar, made from a ram's horn
A shofar, made from a ram's horn, as prescribed in the Torah; apples dipped in honey are eaten to wish for a sweet year.
Q 22What did Munich's first Oktoberfest, held in 1810, celebrate?
A royal wedding
A royal wedding: Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on 12 October 1810, and the festival meadow was named Theresienwiese, known to locals as the Wiesn.
Q 23What did one of the Oregon founders of Talk Like a Pirate Day yell during a 1995 racquetball game?
Aaarrr!
The first Sunday after Labor Day: a 1978 law signed by President Carter fixed the date after Marian McQuade's campaign; nine-year-old Russell Capper had written to President Nixon proposing the day in 1969.
Q 14US Constitution Day falls on the 17th because of what event on that date in 1787?
Delegates signed the document in Philadelphia
Thirty-nine delegates signed at Independence Hall; Rhode Island had refused to send anyone at all.
Q 15In which year was the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American military history?
1862
1862: Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and McClellan's Army of the Potomac met at Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17, 1862, exactly 75 years after the Constitution was signed.
Q 16Francis Scott Key wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner' after watching the British bombard which Baltimore stronghold?
Fort McHenry
Fort McHenry guarded Baltimore harbour through the British bombardment of September 13–14, 1814; the flag Key saw flying at dawn had 15 stars and 15 stripes.
Q 17Patriot Day, observed in the US on September 11, remembers the victims of which year's attacks?
2001
President Bush first proclaimed a Day of Prayer and Remembrance for September 14, 2001; Congress then fixed the annual observance on the 11th.
Q 18Who gave the Grito de Dolores of 1810, marked by Mexico's Independence Day on September 16?
Miguel Hidalgo
Every year the Mexican president re-enacts the cry from the National Palace balcony, ringing the same bell Hidalgo used.
Q 19Which South American country celebrates its independence day on September 7?
Brazil
Brazil: Dom Pedro I declared independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822, the Sete de Setembro; Chile's Fiestas Patrias follow on the 18th.
Q 20Enkutatash, the New Year of Ethiopia and Eritrea, falls on September 11 and its name means what?
Gift of jewels
Gift of jewels: tradition says the Queen of Sheba returned from visiting Solomon on that day and her chiefs welcomed her with jewels, the enku of the name.
Aaarrr!: one of the pair yelled it in pain during a June 1995 racquetball game; John Baur and Mark Summers picked September 19, Summers's ex-wife's birthday, as the date, and Pastafarians later adopted the holiday.
Q 24Hobbit Day, September 22, marks the shared birthday of which two characters?
Bilbo and Frodo Baggins
Bilbo and Frodo Baggins share a September 22 birthday, the day of Bilbo's farewell party; the American Tolkien Society proclaimed Hobbit Day in 1978, and The Hobbit was published on September 21, 1937.
Q 25According to Maurice White, why does Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September' name the 21st night?
It simply sounded best when sung
It simply sounded best when sung, White said; his wife later revealed it was also their son's expected due date, and comedian Demi Adejuyigbe turned the date into an annual internet event.
Q 26The United Nations International Day of Peace is observed on which day of the month?
The 21st
The 21st: the UN General Assembly fixed the International Day of Peace on September 21 in 2001; it had first been observed in 1982 on the Assembly's opening day, and the Japanese Peace Bell is rung at headquarters.
Q 27Michaelmas, September 29, has traditionally been one of the four what in England and Ireland?
Quarter days
Quarter days: Lady Day, Midsummer, Michaelmas and Christmas were the days rents fell due and leases turned over; Oxford and Cambridge named their autumn term Michaelmas after it.
Q 28Japan's Respect for the Aged Day, once fixed on the 15th, has been held on which day since 2003?
The third Monday
The third Monday: the Happy Monday System moved Respect for the Aged Day from the fixed 15th to the third Monday of September in 2003 to create a long weekend.
Q 29On Prinsjesdag, the third Tuesday of September, the Dutch monarch does what?
Delivers the Speech from the Throne to parliament
It is the Dutch equivalent of the State of the Union or Britain's State Opening of Parliament, and it is written into the constitution.
Q 30Australians wear a sprig of which plant on September 1, the first day of their spring?
Wattle
Wattle: the golden wattle is Australia's national floral emblem, but any acacia sprig will do; the first national Wattle Day was held on 1 September 1910, and the date was fixed nationwide in 1992.