New Year’s Eve Trivia and Fun Facts
Americans are known for their “work hard, play hard” mindset. On average, we work 1,789 hours per year.1 However, even with our play-hard mentality, many of us do not stay up to see the ball drop on New Year’s Eve.2 Less than one-third of Americans plan to either attend or host a New Year’s Eve party,3 while more than half will spend the evening at home.4
Whether your plans involve a night on the couch with family or celebrating into the wee hours with fellow partygoers, here are some fun New Year’s trivia questions and factoids to stimulate the mind and ring in 2025.
New Year’s Trivia Questions and Answers
Question: Which country is the first to see the New Year?
Answer: The island nation of Kiribati is the first5 due to its position on the International DateLine.
Question: What is the name of the traditional Scottish song sung at midnight on New Year’sEve?
Answer: Auld Lang Syne (translation: “old long since” or “for old time’s sake”)
Question: What is the most common New Year's resolution?
Answer: Health, exercise, or diet-related goals6
Question: Where is the Tournament of Roses Parade held?
Answer: Pasadena, California7
Bonus: When was it first held?
Answer: 1890
Question: When did the original “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”8 broadcast air?
Answer: 1972Bonus: What network hosted the original show?Answer: NBC (the show moved to ABC in 1974)
Bonus: Who hosted the first two editions?
Answer: Three Dog Night and George Carlin (Dick Clark took over as host when it moved to ABC)
Question: What year was the first Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop?
Answer: 19079
Question: What do Spaniards eat 12 of at midnight on New Year’s Eve for good luck in the coming year?
Answer: Grapes10
Question: What country is known for smashing plates on New Year’s to ward off evil spirits?
Answer: Denmark11
New Year’s Eve Fun Facts
● The Times Square Ball is 12 feet in diameter, weighs 11,875 pounds, and is covered in 2,688 Waterford crystals.12
● Occasionally, a “leap second” is added to the world’s official clocks on New Year’s Eve to keep the clocks in sync with Earth’s rotation.13
● The tradition of kissing at midnight on New Year’s Eve is rooted in ancient superstitions that doing so brings good luck in love and relationships in the year ahead.14
● The International Space Station crew celebrated the New Year in space for the first time in 2000.15
● Approximately 30 percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions,16 but fewer than 10 percent are successful at keeping them.17
● Twenty-three percent of people quit their resolution by the end of the first week; 43 percent quit by the end of January.18
● The practice of making New Year’s resolutions dates back over 4,000 years to the ancient Babylonians, who made promises to their gods at the start of the year in hopes of gaining favor.19 They celebrated the new year not on January 1 but at the vernal equinox in mid-March.
Let’s Resolve to Review Your Estate Plan in 2025
As the year ends, many people vow to get their financial and legal affairs in order. Resolutions about finances and personal relationships—topics that feature prominently in an estate plan— are right up there in popularity with resolutions about health.
Making estate planning part of your New Year’s resolution is a powerful way to provide peace of mind and long-term security for you and your family. Unlike setting an early alarm to get in that predawn run before work, you can schedule a time to go over your estate plan whenever it is most convenient for your busy schedule.
The new year provides a timely opportunity to review your plan and ensure that life changes— such as marriages, divorces, or new children—are reflected in your legal documentation.
If you do not update your plan—or do not have one at all—you could be resolving to let the state decide important matters such as who should receive your money and property at death and who should be appointed to care for your minor children if both parents are unable to do so.
Resolutions are all about living with intention, and there is no better way to live intentionally than through establishing an estate plan. Make 2025 the year you start taking your plan more seriously: Get in touch with our office to schedule a meeting.
Reference
1. How Many Hours Do You Work in a Year?, On the Clock, https://www.ontheclock.com/Blog/working-hours-in-ayear.aspx (last visited Nov. 22, 2024).
2 Sarah Kliff, How late the world stays up on New Year’s, in one map, Vox (Dec. 30, 2014), https://www.vox.com/2014/12/30/7465329/new-years-bed-time.
3 Danielle Commisso, Here’s How Americans Are Celebrating New Year’s Eve This Year, Civic Sci. (Dec. 27, 2023), https://civicscience.com/heres-how-americans-are-celebrating-new-years-eve-this-year.
4 Id.
5 Global countdown: Which countries welcome and bid adieu to New Year 2024 first and last, The Economic Times (Jan. 1, 2024), https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/global-countdown-which-countrieswelcome-and-bid-adieu-to-new-year-2024-first-and-last/articleshow/106420553.cms.
6 New Year’s resolutions: Who makes them and why, Pew Rsch. Ctr. (Jan. 29, 2024), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/29/new-years-resolutions-who-makes-them-and-why.
7 Pasadena Tournament of Roses, https://tournamentofroses.com.
8 Paul Grein, ABC to Air “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” Through Jan 1, 2029, Billboard (Nov. 20, 2023), https://www.billboard.com/culture/tv-film/dick-clarks-new-years-rockin-eve-with-ryan-seacrestabc-renewed-1235499600.
9 History of New Year’s Eve & the Times Square Ball, Times Square, https://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nyehistory-times-square-ball (last visited Nov. 22, 2024).
10 The 12 grapes, the passport to a year full of good things, Estudio Sampere (Dec. 12, 2023), https://sampere.com/blog/the-twelve-grapes.
11 Unique New Year’s Traditions From Around the World, Life is Suite (Dec. 21, 2023), https://www.lifeissuite.com/unique-new-years-traditions-from-around-the-world.
12 Times Square Ball Facts, Times Square, https://timessquareball.net/times-square-ball-facts (last visited Nov. 22, 2024).
13 Mike Wall, “Leap Second” to Be Added on New Year’s Eve This Year, Space.com (Jul. 6, 2016), https://www.space.com/33361-leap-second-2016-atomic-clocks.html.
14 Gia Yetikyel, The New Year’s Eve Kiss Tradition, Explained, Vogue (Dec. 7, 2023), https://www.vogue.com/article/new-years-kiss-tradition.
15 John Uri, Space Station 20th: Celebrating the Holidays in Space, NASA (Dec. 23, 2020), https://www.nasa.gov/history/space-station-20th-celebrating-the-holidays-in-space.
16 Shanay Gracia, New Year’s resolutions: Who makes them and why, Pew Rsch. Ctr. (Jan. 29, 2024), https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/29/new-years-resolutions-who-makes-them-and-why.
17 Richard Batts, Why Most New Year’s Resolutions Fail, The Ohio State Univ. (Feb. 2, 2023), https://fisher.osu.edu/blogs/leadreadtoday/why-most-new-years-resolutions-fail.
18 Id.
19 Joanne Dickson, Where did the new year’s resolution come from? Well, we’ve been making them for 4,000 years, The Conversation (Jan. 1, 2023), https://theconversation.com/where-did-the-new-years-resolution-come-fromwell-weve-been-making-them-for-4-000-years-196661.
