Christmas Quiz 2024 – Christmas Quizzes

1. Who discovered the moons of Jupiter and famously championed Copernicus' sun-centred model of the universe?

Galileo

2. Which country's flag contains the image of an assault rifle, generally understood to be a Kalashnikov AK-47?

Mozambique.

3. In which Italian city did Antonio Stradivari establish his violin making business?

Cremona.

4. Who was Nazi Germany's propaganda minister, known for his virulent antisemitism?

Joseph Goebbels.

5. Which Irish writer received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995?

Seamus Heaney.

6. Who in a 1968 Simon and Garfunkel song does "our nation turn its lonely eyes to"?

Joe DiMaggio. (Mrs Robinson.)

7. Which large Caribbean island is divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic?

Hispaniola.

8. Which mainly tropical disease is characterized by falciform erythrocytes?

Sickle Cell Disease. (Falciform means sickle-shaped; cognate with falcon.) [Accept Sickle Cell Disorder, Sickle Cell Anaemia.]

9. Who is popularly known as the father of modern genetics?

Gregor Mendel.

10. Who wrote the 1929 extended feminist essay A Room of One's Own?

Virginia Woolf.

11. What is the predominant flavour of cassis?

Blackcurrant.

12. Why was tetra-ethyl lead added to petrol?

To prevent knocking.

13. What does the word episcopal mean?

Relating to bishops.

14. Where were the first non-European Summer Olympics held?

St Louis, Missouri, USA. (1904.)

15. What is the name of the stretch of water between the Scottish mainland and the Orkney Islands?

Pentland Firth.

16. Who was the English chemist and novelist famous for a 1959 lecture entitled The Two Cultures which lamented the gulf between scientists and literary intellectuals?

C P Snow. (Charles Percy Snow, Baron Snow.)

17. What is the French phrase used for a bunch of herbs tied together and used for flavouring soups and stews?

Bouquet garni.

18. Which ruminant produces a knee clicking sound when walking and uniquely amongst large mammals can digest lichens?

Reindeer. [Rangifer tarandus. Accept caribou.]

19. Who wrote Gloriana for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II?

Benjamin Britten.

20. Which high street chain is named after a character from Moby Dick?

Starbucks.

21. Who is the narrator of Markus Zusak's 2005 historical novel The Book Thief?

Death.

22. Who co-invented the aqualung with Émile Gagnan?

Jacques Cousteau.

23. What is a pilcrow?

The typographical character used to mark a new paragraph, such as in Microsoft Word when formatting symbols are turned on.

24. Which life peer, former Labour MP and one-time member of the International Marxist Group was the 1966 Northern Ireland high jump champion?

Kate Hoey. (Catharine Letitia Hoey, Baroness Hoey.)

25. Where is the Swilcan Bridge?

Between the 1st and 18th fairways on the old course at St Andrews. [Accept St Andrews golf course.]

26. Which country lies on the coast of the Horn of Africa and forms the easternmost projection of the continent?

Somalia.

27. What did Peter the Great of Russia tax at 100 rubles a year in order to encourage the spread of more western customs?

Beards.

28. What did Oscar Wilde describe as "the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable"?

Foxhunting. ("The English country gentleman galloping after a fox.")

29. Who in 1987 said "a woman rang the BBC and said she heard there was a hurricane on the way… well, if you're watching, don't worry, there isn't!"?

Michael Fish. (The next day 22 people were killed by hurricane-force winds.)

30. In which language was the New Testament originally written?

Greek.

31. Which English rock band formed in 1996 taking its name from a South African football club?

Kaiser Chiefs. (After Kaizer Chiefs FC, based in Johannesburg.)

32. What is a baggy green?

The cricket cap (of dark myrtle green colour) worn by Australian Test cricketers.

33. What do we call a protein responsible for catalysing a specific biochemical reaction?

Enzyme.

34. Which plant was first recorded wild in Britain in walls and stonework, notably at the Bodleian Library, and subsequently spread via the railway network?

Oxford Ragwort. (Senecio squalidus) [Reluctantly, accept Ragwort.]

35. Why are type 1a supernovae so important in astronomy?

They all have the same absolute brightness, thereby acting as standard candles. (They have a consistent peak luminosity.)

36. Why was it, according to a 1964 song, that "your sons and your daughters are beyond your command"?

"The Times They Are A-Changin'". (The Times They Are A-Changin', Bob Dylan.)

37. What did Sherlock Holmes keep in the toe end of a Persian slipper?

Tobacco. (Noted by Watson in The Musgrave Ritual.)

38. Who wrote American adaptations of German folk tales including Rip Van Winkle?

Washington Irving.

39. Who wrote Waltzing Matilda?

Banjo (Andrew Barton) Paterson.

40. Valentine and Proteus are the characters refered to in the title of which famous play?

The Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare.

41. What special language does Harry Potter speak?

Parceltongue.

42. What nationality is Mariella Frostrup?

Irish. (Born in Oslo, but moved to Ireland with her family when she was six.)

43. Which 20th century invention was inspired by the seed dispersal mechanism of the burdock plant (Arctium)?

Velcro. (Developed by Swiss engineer George de Mestral.) [Accept hook-and-loop fastener etc.]

44. Which US state changed its official name in 2020?

Rhode Island (Previously Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and now just Rhode Island and Providence.)

45. In which country were over thirty Basque whalers killed in 1615 in an incident known as the Slaying of the Spaniards?

Iceland.

46. What is unusual about the process of sewing a french seam?

You begin with wrong sides together.

47. What does "TO BLO RO DO KRO SO" mean in the Judoon language?

Tardis. (In Doctor Who the Judoon are a race of rhinoform humanoids, frequently employed as a mercenary police force.)

48. Which common food plant has an long-established (though technically incorrect) scientific name that means edible wolf-peach?

Tomato. (Lycopersicon esculentum. Correctly, Solanum lycopersicum.)

49. The Alpine Fault is a geological fault in which country?

New Zealand. (Running almost the entire length of the South Island, and forming the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate.)

50. Which English leader presided over an ordinance abolishing Christmas Day as a feast day and holiday?

Oliver Cromwell.