Wintertime Trivia

1. What is the snowiest city in the United States?

A. Blue Canyon, California
B. Lander, Wyoming
C. Syracuse, New York
D. Marquette, Michigan

The answer is A: Blue Canyon, California with 240.8 inches a year.

2. What state holds the record for the lowest recorded temperature in the United States?

A. Maine
B. Michigan
C. Montana
D. Alaska

The answer is D: Alaska where it reached -80 °F on January 23, 1971 at Prospect Creek Camp, located near the Arctic Circle along the Alaska pipeline.

3. What is the difference between “hot chocolate” and “hot cocoa”?

A. The amount of sugar
B. The amount of cocoa butter
C. The amount of caffeine
D. There is no difference

The answer is B: Americans have come to use the terms “hot chocolate” and “hot cocoa” interchangeably, obscuring the considerable difference between the two. “Hot cocoa” is made from powder made by removing most of the rich cocoa butter from the ground cacao beans. “Hot chocolate,” on the other hand, is made directly from bar chocolate, which already contains cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter. Thus the major difference between the two is the cocoa butter, which makes hot cocoa significantly lower in fat than hot chocolate, while still preserving all the intrinsic health-giving properties of chocolate.

4. What were scarves originally used for?

A. To keep warm
B. Undergarments
C. Hair Accessories
D. To keep clean

The answer is D: Ancient Rome is one of the first origins of the scarf, not used to keep warm, but to keep clean. Called the “sudarium” which translates from latin to english as sweat cloth was use to wipe the sweat from neck and faces in the heat of the desert.

5. How old was the inventor of earmuffs?

A. 5
B. 15
C. 65
D. 90

The answer is B: Chester Greenwood invented the earmuff in 1873, at the age of 15. He reportedly came up with the idea while ice skating, and had his grandmother sew tufts of fur between loops of wire. He was awarded a patent on March 13, 1877. He manufactured these ear protectors, providing jobs for people in the Farmington area, for nearly 60 years.

6. Where did ice skating originate?

A. Finland
B. Canada
C. Austria
D. Sweden

The answer is A: The earliest ice skating happened in Southern Finland about 4000 years ago.

7. What is the world record for the most people engaged in a snowball fight?

A. 1,950
B. 2,356
C. 3,749
D. 6,771

The answer is C: 3,749 students and alumni of Michigan Technological University, as well as members of the community, set the world record for most people engaged in a snowball fight on February 10, 2006.

8. How big is the world’s largest snow castle?

A. 55,000 square feet
B. 125,000 square feet
C. 185,000 square feet
D. 215,000 square feet

The answer is D: The SnowCastle of Kemi, Finland is the biggest snow fort in the world. It is rebuilt every winter. The area covered by the castle has varied from 140,000 to over 215,000 square feet. The highest towers have been over 65 feet high and longest walls over 3,200 feet long, and the castle has had up to three stories. Despite its varying configurations, the snow castle has a few recurring elements: a chapel, a restaurant and a hotel.

9. Where is the coldest place in the universe?

A. The Boomerang Nebula
B. The Eagle Nebula
C. Uranus
D. Neptune’s Moon Triton

The answer is A: The Boomerang Nebula is the coldest known natural location in the universe, with a temperature that is estimated at −457.87 °F.

10. What does the Southern American English word “toboggan” refer to?

A. Snow boots
B. Beer
C. Sled
D. Knit cap

The answer is D: In Southern American English toboggan refers to a type of hat. This is also called a sock toboggan, boggan, or boggan cap. However, this is most likely due to a confusion of the word toboggan. This type of hat is also referred to by other names: knit hat or knit cap, sock cap or stocking cap, watch cap, tuque, skull cap or sometimes as a ski cap. A beanie is a similar type of hat, although toboggan and beanie typically refer to the same item in most regions.