A Diverse and Inclusive Holiday Quiz for Our Readers

Christmas is less than one week away, Hanukkah starts at sundown this upcoming Sunday, and Kwanzaa begins next Thursday, the 26th, so I know you've had only one thing on your minds this week: Where the heck is our holiday trivia quiz, Daniel???

Rest easy, my friends ..... 

1. What zodiac sign would you be if you were born on Christmas Day? 

A: Sagittarius
B: Cancer
C: Capricorn 
D: Virgo  

 

2. To honor how long the sacred oil burned in the Temple, Hanukkah lasts how long?   

A: 14 days 

B: One month

C: 100 hours

D: 8 days

 

3. In what decade did Coca-Cola start using Santa Claus in advertisements?

A: 1920s
B: 1930s
C: 1950s
D: 1980s  

 

4. What tradition do Kwanzaa and Hanukkah share?    

A: The annual Airing of Grievances

B: A saintly figure in the middle of it all

C. Nightly lighting of candles throughout the holiday

D: Insufferable family members you can’t please no matter how hard you try                                                    

 

5. Discovered on December 25, 1643, Christmas Island is an external territory of which country?  

A: Australia  
B: Denmark
C: Thailand
D: UK 

 

6. Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song” is celebrating it’s [blank] Anniversary in 2019?    

A: Diamond

B: Crystal

C: Lace

D: Silver

 

7. Which sports league has played a game on Christmas Day almost every year since its inception in 1946?   

A: NHL
B: NBA
C: NFL
D: Premier League 

 

8. Hanukkah began around 200 B.C. and Christmas around 336 A.D., but you might be surprised that Kwanzaa has been around since …?       

A: 255 A.D

B: 1966 A.D.  

C: 23 B.C.

D: 1066 A.D.

 

9. In what modern-day country was Saint Nicholas born?  

A: Finland
B: Turkey
C: Austria
D: Norway

 

10. What is the most popular meal for Christmas in Japan?   

A: McDonalds Big Mac
B: Steamed fish heads and eyeballs
C: KFC Fried Chicken
D: Traditional soy cakes mixed with crab and deep-fried 

 

11. Joe Pesci stars as ‘Harry’ and Daniel Stern is ‘Marv’ in which 1990 Christmas comedy?   

A: Home Alone
B: Home Alone 2
C: Home Alone 3
D: Harry and Marv’s Christmas Adventure

 

12. “Jingle Bells” was originally written to be:   

A: A New Year’s Day song
B: A Working-Class Protest Anthem About Excess Consumerism During Times of Need (The Great Depression)
C: A National Anthem for Canada
D: A Thanksgiving song

 

ANSWERS: 

1.  C.  You'd be a Capricorn. 

2.  D. The "Festival of Lights" lasts eight days, which was how long one night's worth of sacred oil lasted while Jewish warriors (the Maccabees) held off Syrian invaders while the warriors cleansed and rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.  

3. A. Coke started using Santa in its Christmas ads in the 1920s but he was a stern-looking fellow that'd scare the poop out of you if you saw him hanging around your tree.  However, it was in 1931 when the fat, jolly elf dressed in red we know today made his first appearance. The artist that painted him based Santa's "look" on his next-door neighbor, a retired salesman. 

4. C, both Kwanzaa and Hanukkah celebrate by lighting a candle every night. Hanukkah lights eight candles while Kwanzaa lights seven. 

Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles, as follows:

• Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
• Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define and name ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves.
• Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together.
• Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
• Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
• Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
• Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

5. A. The answer, mate, is Australia. G'day. 

6.  D. Sandler's classic song is 25 years old, making 2019 it’s SILVER anniversary.

7. B. The NBA has dribbled itself into our hearts for over 70 years.

8.  B. Kwanzaa is a cultural celebration of African heritage created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of African Studies at California State University – Long Beach.

9. B. The original St. Nick was a big turkey … er, I mean, he was Turkish by birth.

10. C.  Japan loves its fried chicken during Christmas, so it is Kentucky Fried Chicken.

11. A. Of course, it’s the original “Home Alone” ya filthy animals!

12. D. I believe it should be “B” the protest anthem, but unfortunately, it is the Thanksgiving song. Of course, these days with Christmas Music Radio seemingly starting earlier and earlier, future generations might consider it the Labor Day song or even the Fourth of July song!

Whatever holiday or celebration you are taking part in — or not — I wish you the best and thank you for reading our SkillPath blogs in 2019. We’ll see you again soon!