These New Year's trivia questions and answers explain the night itself: why the year starts on January 1, how the Times Square ball began, and how the new year is kept on the Chinese, Hebrew, Iranian and Ethiopian calendars.
Read the full guide
Four rounds for the countdown
Why the year starts on January 1 goes from Janus to the Gregorian calendar. Midnight: the ball and the drops has time balls, a peach and an onion. Customs for luck around the world visits Spain, Scotland, Japan, Greece and Wales. New years on other calendars runs from the Spring Festival to Nowruz and Enkutatash.
A countdown sheet of 20
A tap on a choice shows the answer and its reason. After ten questions the card offers Print question sheet, a sheet of 20. Open More options there for Topic, to stay on one round, and for Print answer key.
Tips
New years on other calendars has festivals in January, February, March, April and September, so it is not only for December 31.
Questions and answers
Why does the new year start on January 1?
The early Roman calendar began in March. January 1 became the day Rome's new consuls took office in 153 BC, and the Julian calendar of Julius Caesar, in force from 45 BC, also began its year on January 1.
When did the Times Square ball first drop?
On December 31, 1907, to welcome 1908. It has come down every year since except 1942 and 1943, when wartime blackouts were in force. The first ball was made of wood and iron and lit by 100 bulbs.
Are these new year trivia questions and answers only about January 1?
No. One round is about new years on other calendars: the Spring Festival of China, Tết, Seollal, Rosh Hashanah, Nowruz, the Islamic New Year, Enkutatash and the Tamil New Year.
Which place sees the New Year first?
Kiritimati, in the Pacific, is one of the first inhabited places: it keeps the world's furthest forward time zone, UTC+14. Baker Island and Howland Island, both uninhabited, are among the last.
An old Saxon name for January was Wulf-monath. What does it mean?Answer: Wolf month. Source: Wikipedia: January
From 153 BC, January 1 was the day on which Rome did what?Answer: Inaugurated its new consuls. Source: Wikipedia: New Year's Day
The Gregorian calendar took effect in October 1582. Which pope introduced it?Answer: Gregory XIII. Source: Wikipedia: Gregorian calendar
In 1699 which ruler of Russia moved the new year there to January 1?Answer: Peter the Great. Source: Wikipedia: Novy God
In the Gregorian calendar, which date is New Year's Eve?Answer: December 31. Source: Wikipedia: New Year's Eve
Janus, for whom January is named, is usually shown with how many faces?Answer: Two. Source: Wikipedia: Janus
The Old New Year follows the Julian calendar. On which date of today's calendar does it fall?Answer: January 14. Source: Wikipedia: Old New Year
Since which year has Japan kept its official New Year on January 1?Answer: 1873. Source: Wikipedia: Japanese New Year
Which Greek astronomer did Julius Caesar consult while designing his calendar?Answer: Sosigenes. Source: Wikipedia: Sosigenes (astronomer)
Which king of Rome is said to have added January and February to the calendar?Answer: Numa Pompilius. Source: Wikipedia: January
Which was the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar, in 1923?Answer: Greece. Source: Wikipedia: Gregorian calendar
Midnight: the ball and the drops 18
A time ball is a ball dropped at a set time each day. Who were time balls first built to help?Answer: Navigators on nearby ships. Source: Wikipedia: Time ball
At what time does the Times Square ball begin to come down?Answer: 11:59 p.m. Source: Wikipedia: Times Square Ball
Atlanta, Georgia, long marked midnight by lowering a giant model of which fruit?Answer: A peach. Source: Wikipedia: Peach Drop
First Night, a New Year's Eve celebration of local artists and musicians, was first held in 1975 in which city?Answer: Boston. Source: Wikipedia: First Night
How many volunteers throw the confetti from the rooftops around Times Square?Answer: 100. Source: Wikipedia: Times Square Ball
In cartoons, the old year is an old man called Father Time. Who takes over from him at New Year?Answer: Baby New Year. Source: Wikipedia: Father Time
In which city does a lighted ball come down a flagpole in Times Square at midnight on New Year's Eve?Answer: New York City. Source: Wikipedia: Times Square Ball
In which country were fireworks invented?Answer: China. Source: Wikipedia: Fireworks
In which two years was the Times Square ball not lowered, because of wartime blackouts?Answer: 1942 and 1943. Source: Wikipedia: Times Square Ball
Kiritimati, an atoll in the Pacific, is one of the first inhabited places to see each New Year. In which time zone is it?Answer: UTC+14. Source: Wikipedia: Kiritimati
The Mummers Parade is held every New Year's Day in which city?Answer: Philadelphia. Source: Wikipedia: Mummers Parade
Polar bear swims are a New Year's Day tradition in many communities of which country?Answer: Canada. Source: Wikipedia: Polar bear plunge
The time ball at the Greenwich Observatory has dropped every day since 1833. At what time?Answer: 1 p.m. Source: Wikipedia: Time ball
What was the first Times Square ball made of?Answer: Wood and iron. Source: Wikipedia: Times Square Ball
Where was the first modern time ball put up, in 1829?Answer: Portsmouth, England. Source: Wikipedia: Time ball
Which papier-mâché vegetable, covered in lights, is dropped at midnight in Bermuda?Answer: An onion. Source: Wikipedia: List of objects dropped on New Year's Eve
Which uninhabited island is among the last places on Earth to enter a New Year?Answer: Baker Island. Source: Wikipedia: Baker Island
Who first organized the Times Square ball drop?Answer: The newspaper owner Adolph Ochs. Source: Wikipedia: Times Square Ball
Customs for luck around the world 11
By tradition, which first-footer is generally preferred?Answer: A tall, dark-haired man. Source: Wikipedia: First-foot
The grape custom of Spain was made popular in 1909 by vine growers of which place?Answer: Alicante. Source: Wikipedia: Twelve Grapes
In Greece a New Year's cake called vasilopita brings luck to whoever finds what inside?Answer: A hidden coin. Source: Wikipedia: Vasilopita
In Japan, what is hatsumode?Answer: The first visit of the year to a shrine or temple. Source: Wikipedia: Hatsumōde
In Wales, children once carried a decorated fruit from door to door on New Year's Day for the custom of calennig. Which fruit?Answer: An apple. Source: Wikipedia: Calennig
Japanese New Year postcards, called nengajo, are timed to arrive on which day?Answer: January 1. Source: Wikipedia: Japanese New Year
Kagami mochi, a New Year decoration of Japan, is two round rice cakes with what on top?Answer: A bitter orange. Source: Wikipedia: Kagami mochi
The most famous place to eat the twelve grapes is the Puerta del Sol. In which city is it?Answer: Madrid. Source: Wikipedia: Twelve Grapes
The Welsh word calennig means a New Year gift. Which Latin word does it come from?Answer: Kalends. Source: Wikipedia: Calennig
What does each of the twelve grapes of the Spanish custom stand for?Answer: One of the coming twelve months. Source: Wikipedia: Twelve Grapes
Which of these does a first-footer traditionally bring as a gift?Answer: A piece of coal. Source: Wikipedia: Hogmanay
New years on other calendars 21
A Haft-sin table for Nowruz holds how many symbolic items whose names begin with the same letter?Answer: Seven. Source: Wikipedia: Haft-sin
A shofar is blown in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah. What is it usually made from?Answer: A ram's horn. Source: Wikipedia: Shofar
Akitu, the new year festival of ancient Babylon, celebrated the sowing of which crop?Answer: Barley. Source: Wikipedia: Akitu
At the Lantern Festival, what do children solve as they carry their paper lanterns?Answer: Riddles written on the lanterns. Source: Wikipedia: Lantern Festival
By what other name is Chinese New Year known?Answer: The Spring Festival. Source: Wikipedia: Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year falls on the new moon between which two dates?Answer: January 21 and February 20. Source: Wikipedia: Chinese New Year
Enkutatash is the New Year of Ethiopia. In which month of the Gregorian calendar does it fall?Answer: September. Source: Wikipedia: Enkutatash
How many animals are in the cycle of the Chinese zodiac?Answer: Twelve. Source: Wikipedia: Chinese zodiac
In Chinese legend, the beast called the Nian fears loud noises, fire and which color?Answer: Red. Source: Wikipedia: Nian
The Islamic New Year is the first day of which month?Answer: Muharram. Source: Wikipedia: Islamic New Year
The name Enkutatash, the Ethiopian New Year, means what in Amharic?Answer: Gift of jewels. Source: Wikipedia: Enkutatash
Nian gao, a sticky cake eaten at Chinese New Year, is lucky because its name sounds like which wish?Answer: A higher year. Source: Wikipedia: Nian gao
Puthandu, the Tamil New Year, falls on or about which date every year?Answer: April 14. Source: Wikipedia: Puthandu
Rosh Hashanah is the New Year in Judaism. What does the name mean?Answer: Head of the year. Source: Wikipedia: Rosh Hashanah
Seollal marks the first day of the lunisolar calendar of which country?Answer: Korea. Source: Wikipedia: Korean New Year
The Spring Festival travel season of China, about 40 days long, has been called the largest yearly what?Answer: Human migration in the world. Source: Wikipedia: Chunyun
The square Vietnamese rice cake called bánh chưng stands for what?Answer: The earth. Source: Wikipedia: Bánh chưng
Tết is the most important celebration of which country?Answer: Vietnam. Source: Wikipedia: Tết
Thirteen days after Nowruz, how do people in Iran spend the day called Sizdah Be-dar?Answer: Picnicking outdoors. Source: Wikipedia: Sizdah Be-dar
What does the name Nowruz mean?Answer: New day. Source: Wikipedia: Nowruz
Which festival, on the 15th day of the year, ends the Chinese New Year celebrations?Answer: The Lantern Festival. Source: Wikipedia: Chinese New Year
How this list was compiled
Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Every question, wrong choice and explanation is our own wording. Each answer agrees with a sentence in the English Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org) named and linked beside the question, read on 2026-10-02; every extra claim in an explanation was read on the same page. The rounds cover why the year starts on January 1, the Times Square ball and other midnight customs (the midnight song is left to the holiday pack), customs for luck in other countries, and new years on other calendars. New years and feast days of faiths are asked plainly, as calendar facts: a date, a name and what it means. Left out on purpose: drinks, sponsors, makers and broadcasters, living people, attendance and other figures that change by year, and name-that-year questions, which this pack does not hold. Facts that the site's holiday, world culture, birthday and math packs already ask (what Spain eats at midnight, the 108 bells of Japan, the red envelopes, which year the ball first welcomed, who wrote the midnight song, which god January is named after, what a first-foot is, when Nowruz falls, how many days the calendar skipped in 1582) were dropped, so no question here repeats one of theirs word for word as they stood on 2026-10-02. Levels are our estimate for a mixed table of adults and older children; each round is stored easiest first. Licence: own work