Your January Brain-Teasing Quiz!

By Mitya Underwood

Shutterstock © Up Helly Aa festival Pic: Shutterstock

Up Helly Aa Festival Pic: Shutterstock

Shake off that winter lethargy and sharpen up your mind with our fun selection of posers – all with a January theme!

Challenge your family, friends and work colleagues with these fiendishly tricky questions on trivia, TV and film, history and people.

The answers are below the questions, so don’t scroll down until you’re ready to reveal them. Good luck!

34 Quiz Questions and Answers

General Trivia

1. Where is the festival of Up Helly Aa held on the last Tuesday in January?

2. Which city’s name translates as January river?

3. January is named after which Roman god, representing beginnings and transitions?

4. What is the common name for plants of the genus Eranthis, which commonly flower in January?

5. What is January’s birthstone?

6. When it’s not a leap year, January always starts on the same day of the week as which other month?

7. Which Grand Slam tennis tournament is held in the middle of January?

8. What is the name of the full moon that takes place in January?

9. National Trivia Day falls on what day in January?

10. What date is Australia Day celebrated on?

TV and Film

1. In the January 2024 ITV series Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which actor plays the lead role of Mr Bates?

2. What well-known actor, who starred in the Fantastic Beasts fantasy films, has a birthday on January 6?

3. Fool Me Once, the Netflix series out January 2024, starred which UK actress in the lead role as Maya?

4. What awards ceremony took place on January 7, 2024 to honour the best in film and American television productions?

History

The Beatles Pic: Ibl/Shutterstock

1. Which monarch died on January 22, 1901?

2. Via which island did immigrants enter the USA from January 1892 until 1954?

3. The world’s first underground railway system open on January 10, 1863, but in which city?

4. Which monarch was crowned on January 13, 1559?

5. The United Kingdom officially joined the European Economic Community on January 1 of which year?

6. On January 30, 1969, where did The Beatles perform an impromptu concert?

7. Who famously started his diary on January 1, 1660

8. In January of what year was Czechoslovakia divided into Slovakia and the Czech Republic?

9. Which state became the 49th state of the US on January 3, 1959?

10. Popeye the Sailor Man first appeared in a comic strip in 1929. What was the name of his long-term girlfriend?

People

Marilyn Monroe Photo by Frank Powolny/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

Marilyn Monroe Pic: Frank Powolny/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

1. Who did Marilyn Monroe marry in January, 1954?

2. Which American singer was born on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi?

3. Rod Stewart celebrates his birthday on January 10 but what year was he born?

4. Which member of the Royal Family has a birthday on January 9?

5. Who received the patent for the first lightbulb on January 27, 1880?

6. Pride & Prejudice was first published in January 1813. Who wrote it?

7. Who was the last Swede to win the Mens Singles at Wimbledon, born on January 19, 1966?

8. Michael Crawford was born on January 19, 1942. What was the name of his character in Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em and who played his long-suffering wife?

9. The Antarctic Circle was first crossed on January 17, 1773 by which British explorer?

10. Susanna Hoffs was born on January 17, 1959, but which all-girl band did she front in the 1980s?