25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia: Day 11

[See the Contest Notes at the end of this post if you want to compete for a gift card!]

I don't know if it can be considered a miracle that I've made 11 consecutive posts in my 25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia, but that is as good a theme as any for today's question. The holiday season is a time for miracles, or so the entertainment industry would have us believe. Consider, if you will, the sheer number of movies in which the climax hinges on the occurrence of a miracle, whether it be provided by divine means (It's a Wonderful Life), Santa (Miracle on 34th Street), or some other entity/event (Irving Berlin's White Christmas or, perhaps, Ernest Saves Christmas). I mean, this predilection for miracle stories goes back to a certain miraculous birth as well as Mr. Dickens' story of spectral visitations.

But not all holiday miracles occur on the life event level. Some are seemingly magical transformations of, say, common everyday items. So, with that in mind, today's question:

Which one of Jesus' early miracles is also supposed to be a fortunate supernatural effect attributed to Christmas Eve? 


Today's video has nothing to do with the trivia question, but I do believe this tune completely captures the tone and spirit of this time of year (even somewhat tackling the idea of seasonal miracles). This song is "The Atheist's Christmas Carol" from Vienna Teng's second album, Warm Strangers (2004). This tune is not an anti-religious screed. Rather, it is a beautiful summation of the pure potentiality of each and every holiday that claims the Winter Solstice as its time of observance. The video shows Vienna performing the song live at THE LIVING ROOM in NYC. (Note: This was the offering for Day 3 of my 25 Days of Holiday Music last year. Check that post for song lyrics).

Contest Notes:

Remember, 25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia is an actual contest. If you want to participate, all you have to do is send me your answer to each question I've posted (and for which I have not yet posted the answer). I'll start posting answers on Wednesday, but will likely only go through the first week of trivia. So you still have time to go back through the posted questions and rack up some points.

Points? Yes! The three folks who rack up the most points in my trivia game will receive a gift card!

If you want to participate, simply message me your answers. Don't post in the comments unless you don't mind sharing your work. (Just DM me on Twitter, private message me on FB, or use the contact info on this blog to email me).

25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia: Day 10

Are you ready for Day 10 in 25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia? Today's question is on the musical side of things. "Silent Night" (or "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht") was written by Franz Gruber on Christmas Eve in 1818. Gruber was a school teacher as well as the organist and church caretaker in the village of Arnsdorf. Your question today: On what instrument did Gruber compose the melody for "Silent Night! Holy Night"?

Bonus Question: Where was "Silent Night, Holy Night" first performed?

This isn't the first performance, but it is one of the earliest recordings of the song:

Contest Notes:

Remember, 25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia is an actual contest. If you want to participate, all you have to do is send me your answer to each question I've posted (and for which I have not yet posted the answer). I'll start posting answers on Wednesday, but will likely only go through the first week of trivia. So you still have time to go back through the posted questions and rack up some points.

Points? Yes! The three folks who rack up the most points in my trivia game will receive a gift card!

If you want to participate, simply message me your answers. Don't post in the comments unless you don't mind sharing your work. (Just DM me on Twitter, private message me on FB, or use the contact info on this blog to email me).

25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia: Day 9 (and contest announcement!)

Before we get to today's trivia question, I have an important announcement: I've decided to make my 25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia an actual contest. If you want to participate, all you have to do is send me your answer to each question I've posted (and for which I have not yet posted the answer). I won't post answers for days one through today until tomorrow or Wednesday. So you still have time to go back to the first question and rack up some points.

Points? What do I mean by "points"? Well, I've decided that to make this an actual contest, I need to award points and give out prizes. So, the three folks who rack up the most points in my trivia game will receive a gift card (I'm thinking ... Amazon, Starbucks, and ... something else).  I'll keep track of participants and their points via a spreadsheet on Google Drive. Not sure whether I'll post it publicly or not. I'm open to suggestions.

So, with that announcement, on to today's question!

Time to rack up frequent flyer points with the latest installment of trivia. Every Christmas, families and churches use poinsettias for decoration. Your question today: From where does this flowering plant hail?

Bonus question #1: Who is this flower named after?

Bonus question #2: What color are a poinsettia's flowers?


Remember, if you want to participate and complete in this trivia extravaganza, message me your answers. Don't post in the comments unless you don't mind sharing your work. (Just DM me on Twitter, private message me on FB, or use the contact info on this blog to email me).

Good luck folks!

In honor of yesterday's snow storm, I'll sign off with Sonic Tol-Fa's "Snō" from their 2002 release, Sugaure.

25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia: Day 8

Number 8 Tile (via pewabicstore.org)

Christians around the world will light another candle on an Advent wreath today. This simple structure is used to mark progress on the way to Christmas. While it once sported 24 candles, the Advent wreath has long since slimmed down to a streamlined version with four candles for the Sundays between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve (and often a fifth, central candle for Christmas Day).

Advent Wreath with 24 Candles

Advent Wreath with Five Candles

While there is ample evidence for a pre-Christian forerunner of the Advent wreath, the precise means by which that wreathed timekeeper was adapted by the church is less certain. However, I think there is some agreement as to where the tradition started. So, your question today: In what country did the Advent wreath originate?

25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia: Day 7

Closing out our first week of Winter Holiday Trivia with a special question for Day 7.

The Welsh name for December is Rhagfyr, while the Gaelic name is An Mios marbh.
What do these names mean in English?

25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia: Day 6

Time to close out our first week of Winter Holiday Trivia! How about something humorous to lead us into the weekend?

MADtv did a parody of a certain, illuminating reindeer. Your question today: What was the parody called, and what was the cinematic source of the parody?

25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia: Day 5

On the fifth day of December, my internet friend gave to me: another Winter Holiday Trivia question!

Introduced in the 16th century, this calendar resulted in the loss of 11 days in the calendar year and moved Christmas to December 25 (well, sort of ... Christmas had already been set as December 25 as early as the fourth century).

What is the name of this calendar? Feel free to submit your answer in the comments!

Note: This video has nothing to do with today's trivia question.

25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia: Day 4

Pucker up for another day of Winter Holiday Trivia!

Everyone knows that you're supposed to kiss the person standing under the mistletoe. Your question today: What are you supposed to do after kissing? Feel free to submit your answer in the comments! (And, please, do keep it clean!)

FYI: In 2007, singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat released a wonderfully downbeat tune called "Mistletoe" that she wrote with her friend Stacy Blue. Released as a digital download on iTunes, "Mistletoe" was, apparently, the most downloaded holiday song of 2007.

25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia: Day 3

Day 3 on the Winter Holiday Trivia train.

With Thanksgiving a recent memory and December in full swing, many folks have put up a Christmas tree (or a Yule tree, or a Hanukkah bush, or a Solstice shrub, und so weiter und so fort). Of course, those bits of greenery will be decorated as well. We'll deal with the pine greens themselves in an upcoming trivia post. Today I want to focus on the decorations, particularly those of the glass ornamentation persuasion that many people are so fond of.

Your question today: In what country were glass Christmas ornaments first manufactured? (Bonus points if you can point to who started it and in what year).  Feel free to submit your answer in the comments!

25 Days of Winter Holiday Trivia: Day 2

Are you ready for more Winter Holiday Trivia?

The Dickensesque film, It's a Wonderful Life, had its premier at New York's Globe Theatre on December 20, 1946. It later went into general release on January 7, 1947. Although it opened to pretty mixed reviews, the film has gone on to be a holiday classic.

Your question today: What other Christmas film did It's a Wonderful Life, finish ahead of in terms of 1947 box office revenues? Feel free to submit your answer in the comments!