Q 01/05

Which month, named for the god of war, began the Roman year before January did?

A) April

B) March

C) May

D) June

Answer · why

B) March

March opened the early Roman year. One Roman tradition says King Numa moved the start to January, the month of Janus, their god of beginnings.

Q 02/05

Which of these months has 31 days, just like January?

A) April

B) June

C) August

D) September

Answer · why

C) August

August has 31 days too. To check any month, make a fist and name the months across your knuckles and the dips between them: every knuckle month has 31...

Q 03/05

January is named after Janus, a Roman god famous for having what?

A) Three eyes

B) Two faces

C) Wings

D) A lion's mane

Answer · why

B) Two faces

Two faces let Janus look both ways at once, back at the past and ahead to the future, which suited the Romans' god of doorways and beginnings.

Q 04/05

Which Scottish song is traditionally sung as the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve?

A) Loch Lomond

B) Auld Lang Syne

C) Scotland the Brave

D) The Skye Boat Song

Answer · why

B) Auld Lang Syne

Auld Lang Syne means roughly 'for old times' sake'; Robert Burns wrote the words down in 1788 and said he had taken them from an old man's singing.

Q 05/05

In New York City, a giant glowing ball drops at midnight on New Year's Eve in which famous place?

A) Herald Square

B) Central Square

C) Union Square

D) Times Square

Answer · why

D) Times Square

Times Square got its ball in 1907 because the city had banned the fireworks that the New York Times used to launch from its tower each New Year's Eve.