Wake Me Up Before You Yo-Yo Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ancient Greece

The earliest known reference to a yo-yo comes from ancient Greece. A vase from around 500 BCE shows a boy holding what is unmistakably a yo-yo, or at least a toy very similar. Ancient Greek yo-yos were often made of wood, metal, or terracotta, and there is speculation by the people who speculate these things that they might have served a ritual purpose when children reached a certain age.

These early toys were not quite built for tricks like Walk the Dog, but they prove that the old up-down goes back a long way.

Answer: Rock the Baby

Rock the Baby is one of the first flashier tricks many yo-yo players work on. It involves using your fingers to create a string triangle, shaped like a cradle, and then gently swinging the still-spinning yo-yo back and forth inside it. It's not the most difficult trick (says the guy who can't do it), but it's definitely a rite of passage for any serious yo-yo player.

Answer: No

Never bring a yo-yo to a gunfight, as the old saying goes. I mean, it's a great story, and I'm sure we all wish it were true. Imagine ancient Filipino hunters swinging yo-yos from trees to knock out an unsuspecting wild pig or lines of soldiers walking the dog in rank and file toward the trembling armies of their enemies. Who wouldn't want that to be true?

Alas and alack, there's no actual historical evidence for it. The myth likely originated as a clever marketing gimmick in the 20th century by the Duncan company. The modern yo-yo does have strong ties to the Philippines, though. Pedro Flores, a Filipino immigrant, popularized the toy in the U.S. in the 1920s. As far as battlefield gadgets go? You're better off with a slingshot or even a jump rope.

Answer: Walk the Dog

Walking the Dog is a classic yo-yo trick where the spinning yo-yo touches down and rolls forward along the ground, like you're taking it for a light stroll around the block. To pull the trick off, the yo-yo must be "sleeping" (spinning at the end of the string) long enough to balance it while it rolls. Bonus points if you successfully avoid tripping your spouse. (Sorry, honey.)

Answer: The United States

Although the yo-yo has ancient roots, its commercial success definitely began in the United States. In 1928, Filipino-American Pedro Flores opened the first yo-yo manufacturing company in Santa Barbara, California. He produced handmade wooden yo-yos and helped launch a nationwide craze. Just a year later, businessman Donald F. Duncan thought that sounded fun, too, and he bought Flores's company, turning the yo-yo into a household name and forever linking the toy with American culture.

Answer: True

Of course they did! What's the point of a space program if you don't see how a yo-yo works in microgravity? It was in 1985 that NASA astronauts brought a yo-yo aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery to test how it would behave. While the yo-yo still worked, spinning and rewinding thanks to angular momentum, it couldn't perform one of its most basic tricks: sleeping. On Earth, a yo-yo "sleeps" by spinning in place at the end of the string, thanks to gravity keeping the string taut.

But in zero gravity, there's no force to pull the string downward and keep it tight, so the yo-yo just floats aimlessly.

Answer: Around the World

Around the World is a classic yo-yo trick that dates back to the early days of competitive play. The yo-yo is thrown outward in a strong, straight motion, completing a full circle in the air around the person's hand before returning. It's a move often taught early because it looks cool but helps build control, balance, and confidence.

In theory. And yes, in the process of learning it, you really should just stand in an open field and wear body armor, because it does have the tendency of hitting any nearby objects such as your shin and... other things, such as that little figurine on the mantel that your wife has had for ages. (Sorry, honey!)

Answer: June 6

National Yo-Yo Day is celebrated on June 6th, honoring the birthday of Donald F. Duncan Sr., the entrepreneur who popularized the modern yo-yo in America during the 20th century. Duncan certainly didn't invent the yo-yo, but he bought the rights from Pedro Flores (a Filipino immigrant who started the first U.S. yo-yo company) and helped make it a craze. So yes, spin a yo-yo in honor of the man who helped make them something every middle-aged man is absolutely certain he can learn to do well if he puts his mind to it!

Answer: DNA

The DNA trick is a modern yo-yo spectacle that involves a rapid horizontal spin and a creepy-cool maneuver where the string coils around the axle in a tight spiral, making the yo-yo appear to thread itself like a strand of DNA. It's popular on TikTok and YouTube, where players just love to show off how much better they are than I. Seriously, though, check it out if you get the chance.

It's pretty wild.

Answer: Friction

I like to think love plays a role, but the answer we're looking for is in fact friction. When a yo-yo sleeps, it spins at the bottom of the string without immediately coming back. To return it to your hand, the string needs to tighten and increase friction against the axle. That friction "catches" the axle and forces the spinning motion to rewind the string, lifting the yo-yo back up.

A sharp tug or flick increases this friction just enough to re-engage the return mechanism. Without friction, you'd be playing fetch, which also describes my experience with boomerangs.