CHANUKA
Number of candles on the Hanukkah when fully lit.
NINE. The centrepiece of the Hanukkah celebration is the hanukkah or the menorah, a candelabra that holds nine candles. Eight candles symbolize the number of days that the Temple lantern blazed, the ninth, the "shamas", is a helper candle used to light the others.
Shamash also means a person who assists in the running of the synagogue.
The store the movie "Miracle on 34th. Street is based on.
MACY'S - the Great American Department Store at 151 West 34th. Street in New York. "Miracle on 34th. Street is a 1947 American Christmas comedy-drama film. The movie stars Maureen O'Hara, John Payne and Natalie Wood and the story takes place between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day in NYC, and focuses on the effect of a department store Santa Claus who claims to be the real Santa.
The number of states the Mississippi River run through.
10 - The Mississippi River ranks as the thirteenth-largest river by discharge in the world (3,766 km) The river either borders or passes through the states of: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.
(US has 50 states, largest river is the Nile River, 6,650km))
TIME Magazine named him the 2022 "Person of the Year".
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY. The 44-year old was named 2022's Person of the Year last week, saying he inspired Ukrainians and won global accolades for his courage in resisting Russia's devastating invasion. " Zelensky's success as a war-time leader has relied on the fact that courage is contagious. It spread through Ukraine's leadership in the first days of the invasion, as everyone realized the president had stuck around".
"We'll Always Have Paris" is an icon line from which movie?
CASABLANCA - Cas and Screenplayablanca is a 1942 American Romantic drama film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Director.
The iconic line "We'll Always Have Paris" is an ode to Bogart and Bergman's love in Paris.
It's the difference between a Menorah and a Chanukah Menorah
Before Chanukah Menorahs became a "thing", there was only one single Menorah - the ancient golden candelabra from the Jewish temple. The original golden Menorah had 7 branches.
The 9 branch candelabra, also known as the Chanukah Menorah, is the lamp that Jews light during the 8 das of Chanukah. The Menorah is comprised of 8 branches -one for each day of Chanuka, plus another one for the Shamash - the "helper" candle.
Country that gave the world tradition of the poinsettia as a Christmas flower.
MEXICO - Poinsettias were introduced to the United States by Joel Roberts Pointsett, the first appointed U.S. ambassador to Mexico. It's considered to be symbols of purity, in todays language of flowers, red, white and pink, the December birth flower, symbolize good cheer and success and are said to bring wishes of mirth and celebration.
The world's largest desert is located in what part of the world.
ANTARTICA -The Antartica Polar Desert, which makes up the vast majority of Antartica, is the largest desert in the world. In fact, this single desert is larger than the combined size of the Gobi Desert, the Arabian Desert and the Sahara Desert. It is the largest because it has so little rain and very little grows here.
Project that paves the way for a trip carrying humans around the moon in 2024.
NASA'S ARTEMIS 1 - The Artemis ! mission returned to Earth Sunday December 11, concluding a 25 day journey viewed as an essential precursor to human trips to the moon. "This is what mission success looks like" said the mission manager.
The spacecraft hit the atmosphere while travelling 40,000 kilometres and hour.
She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
MARIE CURIE - Marie Curie was a Polish - French physicist and chemist in late 18800, early 1900. The first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and the only woman to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. She was the one who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity.
Direction of the added candles to the Hanukkah Menorah
LEFT to RIGHT. Now, here's the tricky part: candles are placed in the Menorah from right to left, but candles are lit from left to right. "Left to right, that's how you light". Blessings are recited over lighting the candles. One candle for each night.
December's birthstone!.
ZIRCON, TANZANITE and TURQUOISE. Each of these gemstones carries a unique blue tone making it a perfect birthstone for the frigid winters.
December's multiple birthstones options was created in order to allow more affordable options in addition to the traditional more expensive stones.
The only sea that doesn't have a coastline.
SARGASSO SEA - The Sargasso Sea is a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre. Unlike all other regions called seas, it has no boundaries. It is distinguished from other parts of the Atlantic Ocean by its characteristics brown Sargassum seaweed and often calm blue water.
(ocean gyre is any large system of circulating ocean currents)
This Canadian Corporation celebrated its 100th. anniversary in 2022.
CANADIAN TIRE - with their combined of $1,800, brothers John W. and Alfred J. Billes purchased the Hamilton Tire and Garage Ltd. at the corner of Gerrard and Hamilton Streets in Toronto. Five years later, in 1927, Canadian Tire was officially incorporated. "Canadian Tire celebrates 100 years of making life in Canada better".
It's the size of a newborn kangaroo.
ONE INCH - Newborn joeys (baby kangaroo) are just one inch long (2.5 centimeters) at birth, or about the size of a grape. After birth, joeys travel, unassisted, through their mom's thick fur to comfort and safety of the pouch.
A newborn joey can't suckle or swallow, so the kangaroo mom uses her muscles to pump milk down it's tiny throat.
Delicious jelly doughnuts that have become a Hanukkah tradition
SUFGANIYOT, a deep-fried doughnut filled with jelly. A sufganiyot is almost identical to the Yiddish "ponchke", as both are holeless fried doughnuts with a jelly filling covered in sugar.
Month of December was originally what number of the year in the Roman Calendar ?
The TENTH month. December (from Latin December, "ten") was originally the tenth month of the Roman calendar, following November (November "nine") and preceding Ianuarius. It had 29 days. When the calendar was reformed to create 12-month a year, December became the twelfth month, but retained its name. Its length was increased to 31 days.
European city that has more than one thousand two hundred bridges.
AMSTERDAM - With its maze of criss-crossing canals, it is no wonder that Amsterdam has so many picturesque bridges. With an incredible 1,281 bridges, Amstardam beats the Italian water capital with ease and therefore is well-deserving of the title "Venice the North".
Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race that went through a name-change.
THE QUEEN'S PLATE - The Queen's Plate was inaugurated, with royal blessing, in June of 1860, at the Carleton track in Toronto. After 70 years as The Queen's Plate, Canada's oldest thoroughbred race is getting a name change in 2023. The $1 million stakes race is now known as The King's Plate at its run for the 164th time on Aug. 20, 2023 at Woodbine Racetrack.
What larger variant of the "sweet" banana is frequently used for cooking.
PLANTAINS - Plantains are usually larger and tougher than bananas, with much thicker skin. They may be green, yellow or very dark brown. They are also much starchier than bananas, and sweeter once they are ripe. It's easy to confuse a plantain with a banana because they look so much alike. Plantains can be boiled, baked, or fried.
It's one of the most related items to Hannukah
CANDLES. Each night of the holiday, one candle is lit to remember the "miracle of oil" that happened many years ago. In the story, the miracle occurred after the liberation of the Temple in Jerusalem. it describes the finding of a jug of pure oil that was to be enough to light the lamp for one day, but lased for eight days.
Company that sponsored the first Santa Claus Parade in Toronto in 1905.
EATON'S DEPARTMENT STORE - Santa Claus arrived at Union Station by train in 1905 to make his first pre-Christmas Eve tour through Toronto. While the parade's original sponsor, Eaton's Department Store didn't survive, the parade endured through The Great Depression and two World Wars. Eaton's staged the parade until 1982.
Name of the dangerous Pacific Ocean region, where there are many active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
THE RING OF FIRE - also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire is a horse-shoe shaped belt about 40,000 km long and up to 500 km wide.
It contains approximately 800 volcanoes that have been active since the end of the "ice-age" (11,500 years ago)
They refer to it as the new black "Mourning Armband".
THE NEW TOONIE - The Royal Canadian Mint had issued a new black-ringed toonie to honour Queen Elizabeth. The mint says the coin's black outer ring is intended to evoke a "mourning armband" to honour the Queen who died in September 2022 after 70 years on the throne. Four different images of the Queen have graced Canadian coins since 1953, when she was crowned.
The colours of the Argentina flag.
THE BLUE AND WHITE - The blue and white symbolize the clear skies and snow of the Andes. The sun(added in 1818) is the Sol De Mayo (May Sun), the national symbol of Argentina.
Congrats to Argentina on becoming #FIFAWorldCup Champions.