#15 for New Year's Day, 1 Jan
We hope you are enjoying our quizzes. We think you'll find them tougher than others but also more rewarding.
Click on each question to reveal the answer, or click on the 'Show all the answers' link to see how you went and to learn more. Let us know any suggestions you have for improving the quiz by emailing quizmaster@radionz.co.nz.
Q 1 When was the New Year first celebrated on 1 January?
A 153 BC
The civil year in Rome began in January, so the New Year was moved from 1 March. January (and February) were added to the calendar around 700 BC by the second king of Rome, Numa Pontilius.
That explains why the last months of the current calendar have names that do not match their month number - September (septem is seven in Latin), October (octo for eight), November (novem is nine), and December (decem for ten).
Q 2 Who wrote the words to "Auld Lang Syne", the song traditionally sung as the clock strikes midnight on 31 December?
A Robert Burns
The words were written in 1788 by Robert Burns. Most people only know the first verse and chorus, but there are 10 more to chose from. "Auld Lang Syne" could be roughly translated as "for (the sake of) old times".
The song became part of a wider tradition when Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians performed it during a New Year's Eve broadcast in the US on 31 December 1929.
Q 3 If you keep your 2016 calendar, when is the next year when the dates and days of week will match up correctly?
A 2044
To reuse a calendar, the days of the week must fall on the same dates. 2016 is a leap year, so the matches are less frequent. Since 1900, there have only been four years that match - 1988, 1960, 1932, and 1904.
Non-leap years would have a choice of 12 years.
If you happen to have an unused 2015 calendar, you'll be able to use that in 2026.
There are only 14 possible calendars, and if you want plan ahead for other years, there is a website for that.
Q 4 Which country used a decimal calendar (10 days per week, instead of seven) for a while?
A France
The French Republican Calendar, as it was known, was used from late 1793 to 1805. The aim was to wipe away any references to the old feudal monarchy.
Each week had 10 days, each day was divided into 10 hours, and each hour had 100 decimal minutes.
Q 5 What do the letters AD stand for, as in AD 2016 ?
A Anno Domini
The term is from medieval Latin, and means "in the year of the Lord".
BC is the English abbreviation for "Before Christ", which does cause confusion as many people think AD stands for "After Death". If that were the case, our calendar would be out by about 30 years, as Jesus is believed to have died around AD 30.
It is a grammatical convention to put AD before the date and BC after.
You will sometimes see the letters BCE and CE used for dates. These refer to "Before the Common Era" and "Common Era". The two notations are numerically equivalent.
Q 6 How many people keep their New Year's resolutions?
A Almost none.
Surveys have suggested about 10 percent, but ask yourself how many have you kept? Am I right?
Sorry, trick question.
My New Year's resolution is to not have any more trick questions, but I probably won't keep it either.
Spike Jones had a few things to say about New Year's resolutions. He knew a trick or two.
Q 7 What date is Chinese New Year 2016?
A 8 February
The date of the Chinese New Year is calculated based on the Chinese lunar calendar, and varies between 21 January through to 20 February. 2016 is the Year of the Monkey.
Q 8 When was the current Gregorian Calendar introduced?
The Gregorian Calendar is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582. His aim was to move Easter to the time of year when it was celebrated by the early church.
It replaced the Julian Calendar, which had been in use since 46 BC and is the most widely used civil calendar today.
Not all countries agreed with the change, and it took centuries to finally be adopted in most places. Germany and the Netherlands adopted it in 1698, Great Britain in 1752, Russia in 1918, and Greece in 1923. Many Orthodox churches still follow the Julian Calendar.
Q 9 Buddhist temples ring a bell at midnight. How many times does it ring?
A 108
The practice of ringing a bell 108 times is based on the belief in humans having 108 passions. These passions must be overcome before enlightenment can be attained.
This process takes about one hour as the bell has must fall silent before being struck again. Each ring is thought to drive away one passion.
Q 10 Which fictional ship was overturned by a massive wave on New Year's Eve?
A The SS Poseidon
The movie revolves around a small group of survivors who have to make their way to the bottom of the capsized ship to escape. The story was inspired by a real-life event when the RMS Queen Mary was hit by a rouge wave and nearly capsized.
We hope that your New Year's Eve went better than this, and wish you all the best for the coming year.