A Day to Celebrate Trivia Quiz

January 1st - New Year's Day. The first day of the year was usually tied to an agricultural or astronomical event, such as the Nile river flooding in the case of the Egyptians, or for the Chinese, when the second new moon appeared after the winter solstice. They hadn't quite worked out how many days were in each year, and eventually, things became unsynchronised. To address the issue, Julius Caesar had his best astronomers and mathematicians investigate and the result was the Julian calendar, which was similar to the one in use in modern times. This established more firmly the day on which New Year's Day should fall.

In 1582, a revised calendar, known as the Gregorian calendar, was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII and this solved the issue of continually getting out of sync. In the mid-18th century, the United Kingdom adopted it by skipping ahead 11 days on 2nd September, thus bringing the UK and its colonies into line with other countries in Europe who were using it.

Celebrating the New Year by making resolutions was first thought to have been done by the Babylonians 4000 years ago!

February 14th - Valentine's Day is thought to have originated with the ancient Roman ritual of Lupercalia, a fertility festival that welcomed spring. It was blended briefly with Catholic church traditions, but fell away after it was outlawed. It later became associated with love and the name of Valentine, even though not much is known about St Valentine. In fact it's possible that there were several people named Valentine whose actions contributed to the mythology that grew into the tradition that we know today.

One such person was the St Valentine who performed marriages for soldiers even after they had been outlawed; another Valentine was thought to have fallen in love with his gaoler's daughter, and sent her a missive signed "from your Valentine." A third was said to have perished when he was saving Christian prisoners from Roman incarceration.

March 2 - Peasants' Day is held annually as the people of Myanmar show appreciation for the hard work and dedication of peasants and farmers. Peasants' Day recognises the contribution of the agricultural sector to the economic development of the country. Agriculture in Myanmar employs almost 70% of the population, and the country is one of the world's biggest growers and exporters of rice.

April 1st - No one knows where April Fools' Day started, but across the world people play pranks on one another; sometimes the pranks are played by newspapers or on the radio. One of the most famous was when the BBC told the world that because the spaghetti weevil had been eradicated there was a bumper crop of spaghetti that year, even showing people 'harvesting' spaghetti from trees.

Another was when, in 1996, Taco Bell said they had purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell.

As far back as 1905, the German newspaper Berliner Tageblatt reported that thieves had stolen all the silver and gold from the U.S. Federal Treasury by tunneling beneath the building.

May 5th - Commemorated mostly in Mexico, but also in parts of the United States, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in honour of a military victory in 1862 over the French forces of Napoleon III.

General Ignacio Zaragoza's Mexican forces defeated a superior French army on May 5, 1862, at the Battle of Puebla, when about 1,000 French troops were killed. Though the French were not entirely driven out at the point, the event was so significant it gave impetus to the Mexican people, and became a day to rally around.

June 6th - Memorial Day in South Korea is a public holiday celebrated on June 6th of every year. It commemorates those who sacrificed their lives doing military service during war, particularly the Battle of Bongoh Town and the Battle of Cheongsan-ri. These campaigns were fought against the Japanese Imperial Army after the Japanese had annexed Korea in 1910.

July 4th - In the USA, Independence Day celebrates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776. Initially, Independence Day was commemorated with parades and ceremonies that celebrated the new nation, and it remains a holiday marked by parades, fireworks displays, and concerts of patriotic music. Eating traditional food such as barbecue, hamburgers, hot dogs, and corn on the cob with family and friends is common.

August 20th - Hungary celebrates the establishment of the Hungarian State each August, which commemorates the country's more than 1,000-year-old history. In the 9th century, there was a struggle for the throne between Stephen (son of the Christian Grand Prince), and Koppány, who was supported by pagan tradition. Stephen was finally victorious, defeating Koppány with the help of foreign knights and local patricians, becoming the first King of Hungary.

After his death, Stephen was canonised on August 20, 1083, and in 1771 that day was declared a national State and Church holiday.

September 18th or 19th - Sambidhan Diwa is celebrated on Asoj 3 in the calendar of Nepal - the equates roughly to September 18 or 19 in the Gregorian calendar. This is a relatively recently gazetted holiday, as in 2015, the constitution of Nepal was adopted, which proclaimed the country's shift away from being ruled by a constitutional monarchy to becoming a federal republic.

Early October - In 1957, the second Monday in October was declared by the Canadian government as the day when Thanksgiving would be celebrated, after the date had moved around several times since its inception in 1879. In Canada, the celebration of Thanksgiving is roughly equivalent to the British and European harvest festival where churches are filled with wheat sheaves, pumpkins, corn and other produce, a token of the thanks given to God for his gifts to the congregation. Canadians join with family to enjoy food and celebrate the blessings they have been given.

November 5th - Guy Fawkes Day commemorates the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605, when Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes and fellow Catholic conspirators attempted to blow up Parliament and assassinate the Protestant king, James I of England.

The failed attempt is celebrated annually with fireworks, parades, bonfires, and food. In some places, straw effigies (known as 'guys') are thrown on the bonfire. The following rhyme is chanted:

Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason
Why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot....

December 25th - Navidad (Spanish), Natale (Italian), and (Noël) French all refer to the nativity, the account of the birth of Jesus Christ found in the Biblical gospels of Matthew and Luke. While December 25th became the universally accepted date after it was first identified as the date of Jesus' birth by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221, there is no Biblical support for this. For the first few centuries after Jesus' birth Christmas was not celebrated at all until it became entrenched in the church's liturgy in the 9th century.

In many countries around the world, Jesus' birth is celebrated with a holiday, feasting and present giving.