This winter solstice trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers the shortest day of the year, from the astronomy behind it to the festivals people have held to mark it for thousands of years. It takes in Earth's axial tilt and why the seasons happen, the December and June solstices, the ancient monuments aligned to the solstice sun (Stonehenge, Newgrange), and the traditions around the world: Yule, Saturnalia, China's Dongzhi, Iran's Yalda Night, the Hopi Soyal and the Inca Inti Raymi. Early questions suit anyone who knows the solstice is the shortest day. Later ones reward people who know which monument is older than the pyramids and why Earth is actually closest to the Sun in January. Use it for a seasonal trivia night, a science-class starter or a holiday quiz. Every answer has been checked against a documented source shown under the explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The winter solstice is the day with what?
The shortest daylight
It also has the longest night of the year for that hemisphere.
Q 02In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice falls on about which date?
December 21
In the Southern Hemisphere it falls six months later.
Q 03The winter solstice happens when a pole reaches its maximum tilt in which direction relative to the Sun?
Away from the Sun
The opposite pole is having its summer solstice at the same moment.
Q 04What actually causes the seasons on our planet?
The tilt of its axis
The tilt makes the Sun climb higher in one half of the year and stay low in the other.
Q 05Earth's axis is tilted by roughly how many degrees?
23.4
This tilt is also called the planet's obliquity.
Q 06Surprisingly, Earth is actually closest to the Sun in which month?
January
So the seasons cannot be caused by distance; it is the tilt.
Q 07Stonehenge, in England, is aligned to the sunset on which day?
The winter solstice
It is aligned to the summer solstice sunrise in the other direction.
Q 08The Newgrange passage tomb in Ireland is older than Stonehenge and older than what else?
The Egyptian pyramids
It was built around 3100 BC.
Q 09At Newgrange, the winter solstice sunrise shines into the inner chamber through what feature?
A roofbox above the entrance
For a few minutes the beam floods the cruciform chamber.
Q 10The Germanic winter festival that later merged with Christmas is called what?
Yule
The old sources describe two Yule-months around the solstice.
Q 11The Roman festival held around the solstice in honour of the god Saturn was called what?
Saturnalia
It began on 17 December and overturned normal social rules.
Q 12During the Roman festival, what social reversal happened at the dinner table?
Masters served the enslaved
The festival flipped Roman social norms and allowed gambling.
Q 13What is the name of China's traditional winter-solstice festival?
Dongzhi
The name means the extreme, or summit, of winter.
At the Chinese winter festival, families make and eat balls of glutinous rice called what?
Q 21The old midwinter word survives in the name of which decorated log burned at Christmas?
The Yule log
'Yule-log' is recorded in English from 1725.
Q 22The name 'Jolnir', or 'Yule man', is also a name for which Norse god?
Odin
The link connects the god to the midwinter festival.
Q 23The day of the year with the most daylight is known as what?
The summer solstice
It happens at the same moment in the opposite hemisphere.
Q 24In the far north, when the Sun stays below the horizon for more than 24 hours, it is called what?
Tangyuan
The round shape symbolises reunion.
Q 15Iran's ancient winter-solstice celebration, Yalda, marks what?
The longest, darkest night
Families gather to eat, drink and read the poetry of Hafez.
Q 16Which two red fruits are especially significant at Yalda Night?
Pomegranates and watermelons
Their red colour symbolises the glow of dawn and life.
Q 17The Soyal ceremony is the winter-solstice ritual of which Native American peoples?
The Hopi and Zuni
It opens the sacred underground kiva chambers and the Kachina season.
Q 18The Inca festival Inti Raymi honoured the sun god and fell in June because Cusco lies where?
South of the equator
In Cusco, Peru, the winter solstice falls in June.
Q 19In parts of ancient Europe, the winter solstice symbolised what happening to the Sun?
Its death and rebirth
After the solstice the days start to lengthen again.
Q 20In the Southern Hemisphere, the winter solstice falls in which month?
June
The seasons are reversed from the Northern Hemisphere.
Polar night
The summer version, when the Sun never sets, is the midnight sun.
Q 25The midnight sun, when the Sun never sets, happens north of which line?
The Arctic Circle
The same happens south of the Antarctic Circle.
Q 26Macrobius noted that at the solstice the Egyptians brought an idol of what out of a shrine?
A child Sun god
He wrote that the Sun appears small on the shortest day.
Q 27Besides Stonehenge and Newgrange, which North American earthwork is aligned to the solstice sun?
Cahokia Woodhenge
Many ancient monuments track the solstice sunrise or sunset.
Q 28During the Roman midwinter festival, who was the mock ruler chosen to give comic orders?
The King of the Saturnalia
He gave comic orders that everyone had to follow.
Q 29In which country is the Yalda festival celebrated?
Iran
It is also kept across Central Asia.
Q 30Newgrange stands overlooking which Irish river?
The Boyne
It is the main monument of the Bru na Boinne World Heritage Site.