Q 01/05

Which bird stars on British Christmas cards, perhaps because red-coated Victorian postmen shared its name as a nickname?

A) Wren

B) Linnet

C) Robin

D) Redstart

Answer · why

C) Robin

Robin is said to have been the nickname of Victorian postmen in their bright red jackets, so card artists drew the bird itself delivering the mail.

Q 02/05

Which country has sent London's Trafalgar Square a Christmas tree every year since 1947 as thanks for wartime support?

A) Norway

B) Sweden

C) Denmark

D) Finland

Answer · why

A) Norway

Norway fells the spruce each November at a ceremony attended by the British ambassador and the Mayor of Oslo. The chosen tree is usually 50 to 60 year...

Q 03/05

Which Rage Against the Machine track was 2009's UK Christmas number one after a Facebook protest against The X Factor?

A) Bulls on Parade

B) Sleep Now in the Fire

C) Guerrilla Radio

D) Killing in the Name

Answer · why

D) Killing in the Name

Killing in the Name outsold the talent show winner's single after DJ Jon Morter and his wife Tracy urged Facebook users to buy it, ending a four-year ...

Q 04/05

Which strict Protestant group led the English Parliament that banned the celebration of Christmas in 1647?

A) Quakers

B) Puritans

C) Huguenots

D) Methodists

Answer · why

B) Puritans

Puritans replaced the feast with a day of fasting, condemning Christmas as a popish festival with no biblical justification and a time of wasteful beh...

Q 05/05

Which Christmas bake, now filled with dried fruit and spices, was originally made with meat such as mutton?

A) Stollen

B) Black bun

C) Mince pie

D) Panettone

Answer · why

C) Mince pie

Mince pie fillings once included beef, mutton, tripe and even fish alongside the fruit, and recipes only gradually stopped calling for meat.