Q 01/05

Which Roman emperor reportedly burned a year's supply of cinnamon at his wife Poppaea's funeral?

A) Caligula

B) Nero

C) Hadrian

D) Tiberius

Answer · why

B) Nero

Nero is said to have burned a year's worth of Rome's cinnamon in AD 65, an extravagant gesture because the spice was normally too costly for funeral p...

Q 02/05

In which country do friends shower unmarried people with cinnamon on their 25th birthday?

A) Austria

B) Germany

C) Denmark

D) Belgium

Answer · why

C) Denmark

Denmark's cinnamon dousing seems to have begun around the 1960s, and anyone still unmarried at 30 can expect pepper instead.

Q 03/05

The ancient historian Herodotus wrote that cinnamon sticks were gathered from which unlikely place?

A) Nests of giant birds

B) Beds of dried-up lakes

C) Caves of fire ants

D) Tombs of old kings

Answer · why

A) Nests of giant birds

Nests of giant birds clung to sheer cliffs, he wrote, and traders lured the creatures with heavy chunks of meat until the nests broke and fell.

Q 04/05

People taking the cinnamon challenge must swallow a spoonful of the ground spice without doing what?

A) Chewing it first

B) Coughing even once

C) Closing their eyes

D) Drinking anything

Answer · why

D) Drinking anything

Drinking anything is against the rules of the 60-second dare, so the dry powder coats the mouth and throat and most attempts end in a coughing fit.

Q 05/05

Cinnamon sticks are made from which part of evergreen trees in the genus Cinnamomum?

A) Seed pods

B) Flower buds

C) Inner bark

D) Dried resin

Answer · why

C) Inner bark

Inner bark only about half a millimetre thick is pried from the cut stems, and it curls into the familiar rolls as it dries.