Q 01/05

The first modern Advent wreath, made in 1839 to help children count the days, was built on which object?

A) A ship's wheel

B) A barrel hoop

C) A cartwheel

D) A horse collar

Answer · why

C) A cartwheel

A cartwheel from a mission school for poor children held a small candle for every weekday and a large one for each Sunday. Only the Sunday candles sur...

Q 02/05

Which US president's grandson was pictured with an Advent calendar in Newsweek, sending American demand soaring?

A) Franklin D. Roosevelt

B) Dwight D. Eisenhower

C) Harry S. Truman

D) John F. Kennedy

Answer · why

B) Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower was in his first year in office when the magazine ran the picture in December 1953. The next year's export calendar had the White...

Q 03/05

Which giant straw animal, raised in the Swedish city of Gävle at the start of Advent, do arsonists keep burning down?

A) A horse

B) A reindeer

C) A pig

D) A goat

Answer · why

D) A goat

A goat built of straw has stood in Gävle's Castle Square each winter since 1966. It has been burned again and again, despite security measures and a f...

Q 04/05

Which saint is credited with staging the first live Christmas crib scene, in a cave at Greccio, Italy, in 1223?

A) Francis of Assisi

B) Anthony of Padua

C) Benedict of Nursia

D) Thomas Aquinas

Answer · why

A) Francis of Assisi

Francis of Assisi's scene was acted out rather than carved. The tiny chapel where it is said to have taken place still stands in Greccio.

Q 05/05

Which saint's feast on December 6 sees children in many countries leave out shoes to be filled with sweets overnight?

A) Stephen

B) Nicholas

C) Valentine

D) Christopher

Answer · why

B) Nicholas

Saint Nicholas, a bishop of Myra, is said to have thrown money through a poor family's window, where it landed in shoes drying by the fire.