Christmas Challenge

[Noel+]

So far the trivia has been as snappy as a Gingerbread man, right? These are more of a brain teaser, ready?

1. What relation was the Christ Child to John the Baptist?


2. Who was the Roman emperor when Christ was born?


3. Which emperor is credited with standardizing Dec. 25 as Christmas Day?


4. Mary and Joseph journeyed from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled in the imperial census. How many miles is that?

5. Where did the Grinch steal Christmas?

6. What family tradition did President Franklin Roosevelt insist on performing every Christmas Eve?

7. In Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" what identical gift was bestowed on the bootlegger, the bus driver, the knife grinder, two Baptist missionaries in Borneo and the president of the United States?

8. What was True Love's gift on the second day of Christmas?

9. What did Harry Potter get for Christmas in his first semester at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?

10. Did Norman Rockwell ever paint Grandma Moses?

11. What historic event heightened holiday spirits in Berlin a decade ago?

12. Which newspaper assured a reader: "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus?"

13. Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?

14. What is holly's symbolic meaning to Christians?

15. Who started the American tradition of poinsettia at Christmas?

16. True or false: The New England Puritans forbade Christmas celebrations.

17. Thanksgiving has traditionally been the start of the Christmas season in the U.S. Which U.S. President moved Thanksgiving back a week to extend the holiday shopping season?

18. True or false: The date of Christ's birth is noted in the Book of Matthew in the New Testament.

19. What contribution to the Santa legend did New York ad writer Robert May make in 1939?

20. In what Broadway musical was the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" introduced?

21. What auspicious television event occurred in December 1965?

22. What auspicious television event occurred on December 24, 1968?

23. What legendary actor narrated the TV special "How the Grinch Stole Christmas?

24. What do the songs "Jingle Bells", "Winter Wonderland", and "Sleighride" have in common?

25. Why is "O, Come All Ye Faithful" a Christmas carol but "Deck the Halls" not?

25. The state songs of Maryland and Michigan use the melody of what popular Christmas song?

26. What Christmas song was introduced in the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn" ... and was almost cut out of the final version?

27. Who sang "I saw Momy Kissing Santa Claus?"

28. In which year was Queen Elizabeth's Christmas message to the nation fist televised?

29. Where is Christmas Island?

30. True or false: America has an "official" Christmas tree.

33. True or false: More diamonds are sold at Christmas time than at Valentine's Day.

34. What was so unusual about the Christmas season of 1989 in Eastern Europe?

35. In what year did Toys for Tots start making the holidays a little happier for children?

36. When and where did the Salvation Army Christmas collection kettle originate?

[Noel+]

ANSWERS............

1. What relation was the Christ Child to John the Baptist?
-- No closer than second cousin. Luke tells us John's mother Elizabeth was Mary's cousin.

2. Who was the Roman emperor when Christ was born?
-- Caesar Augustus.

3. Which emperor is credited with standardizing Dec. 25 as Christmas Day?
-- Constantine in 325 A.D.

4. Mary and Joseph journeyed from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be enrolled in the imperial census. How many miles is that?
-- They journeyed 92.5 miles.

5. Where did the Grinch steal Christmas?
-- In Whoville.

6. What family tradition did President Franklin Roosevelt insist on performing every Christmas Eve?
-- Sitting beside the fire, he read aloud the Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol," exuberantly acting out all the parts.

7. In Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" what identical gift was bestowed on the bootlegger, the bus driver, the knife grinder, two Baptist missionaries in Borneo and the president of the United States?
-- A Christmas fruit cake.

8. What was True Love's gift on the second day of Christmas?
-- "Two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree."

9. What did Harry Potter get for Christmas in his first semester at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?
-- An "invisibility cloak."

10. Did Norman Rockwell ever paint Grandma Moses?
-- Yes. He depicted Grandma Moses among the friends and family greeting a boy returning from college in "Christmas Homecoming," a 1948 Saturday Evening Post cover.

11. What historic event heightened holiday spirits in Berlin a decade ago?
-- The fall of the Berlin wall.

12. Which newspaper assured a reader: "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus?"
-- The New York Sun. A famous editorial on Sept. 21, 1897, by Francis P. Church answered a letter by 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon. The paper ceased publication in 1950.

13. Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?
-- The ancient Norse associated mistletoe with their goddess of love.

14. What is holly's symbolic meaning to Christians?
-- To Christians, the berries are symbolic of Christ's blood, and the thorny leaves suggest the thorns in His crown.

15. Who started the American tradition of poinsettia at Christmas?
-- Dr Joel Poinsett, the first US ambassador to Mexico, brought the plant back in 1828. Mexicans had long revered poinsettia because it resembled the Star of Bethlehem.

16. True or false: The New England Puritans forbade Christmas celebrations.
-- True. The Puritans considered Christmas trees and decorations to be pagan, and outlawed them in Massachusetts until 1859.

17. Thanksgiving has traditionally been the start of the Christmas season in the U.S. Which U.S. President moved Thanksgiving back a week to extend the holiday shopping season?
-- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in a move to help out Depression-strained retailers. Since 1859 Thanksgiving had been celebrated on Nov. 30, but in 1939 FDR declared the holiday to be the fourth Thursday in November (Nov. 23 of that yea\). Two years later, FDR signed a bill making the move permanent and official.

18. True or false: The date of Christ's birth is noted in the Book of Matthew in the New Testament.
-- False. The Bible never mentions a specific date for the Nativity.

19. What contribution to the Santa legend did New York ad writer Robert May make in 1939?
-- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. May wrote the lyrics as copy for a Montgomery Ward department store giveaway. In 1947 it was set to music, and recorded by Gene Autrey.

20. In what Broadway musical was the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" introduced?
-- "Meet Me in St. Louis". Judy Garland sang the song in the film version.

21. What auspicious television event occurred in December 1965?
-- "Charlie Brown Christmas" debuted on CBS. One of the very first animated Christmas TV specials, the show has aired every Christmas since.

22. What auspicious television event occurred on December 24, 1968?
-- After achieving the first manned lunar orbit, the crew of Apollo 8 celebrated Christmas Eve by reading from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis. The event was broadcast around the world.

23. What legendary actor narrated the TV special "How the Grinch Stole Christmas?
-- Boris Karloff, star of "Frankenstein" and other horror classics.

24. What do the songs "Jingle Bells", "Winter Wonderland", and "Sleighride" have in common?
-- None of these songs mentions Christmas.

25. Why is "O, Come All Ye Faithful" a Christmas carol but "Deck the Halls" not?
-- A true Christmas carol has to have a religious theme.

25. The state songs of Maryland and Michigan use the melody of what popular Christmas song?
-- "O Tannenbaum"

26. What Christmas song was introduced in the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn" ... and was almost cut out of the final version?
-- Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" -- one of the most popular songs of all time. The movie "White Christmas", starring Crosby and Danny Kaye, didn't debut until 1954. It was the first movie to be made in Vista Vision, a deep-focus process.

27. Who sang "I saw Momy Kissing Santa Claus?"
-- Child singer Jimmy Boyd was 12 years and 11 months old when he sang the Christmas favorite, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." The song hit the top of the pop charts.

28. In which year was Queen Elizabeth's Christmas message to the nation fist televised?
-- Queen Elizabeth's Christmas message to the nation was televised for the first time on December 25, 1957.

29. Where is Christmas Island?
-- Formally called Kiritimati, Christmas Island is in the Indian Ocean.

30. True or false: America has an "official" Christmas tree.
-- True. America's official national Christmas tree is located in King's Canyon National Park in California. The tree, a giant sequoia called the "General Grant Tree," is over 300 feet high. It was made the official Christmas tree in 1925.

33. True or false: More diamonds are sold at Christmas time than at Valentine's Day.
-- True. More diamonds are purchased at Christmas -time (31 percent) than during any other holiday or occasion during the year.

34. What was so unusual about the Christmas season of 1989 in Eastern Europe?
-- On Christmas Day, 1989, Eastern Europe was permitted to celebrate Christmas freely and openly for the first time in decades. Church masses were broadcast live for the first time in history.

35. In what year did Toys for Tots start making the holidays a little happier for children?
-- In 1947, Toys for Tots started making the holidays a little happier for children by organizing its first Christmas toy drive for needy youngsters.

36. When and where did the Salvation Army Christmas collection kettle originate?
-- In an effort to solicit cash to pay for a charity Christmas dinner in 1891, a large crabpot was set down on a San Francisco street, becoming the first Salvation Army collection kettle.