2016 Holiday Trivia 

The rules are simple.

Select a charismatic trivia host. Rather than answering the questions, your host will be the one reading them and revealing the answers to the players. You can play in teams or as individuals.

Moving clockwise, each team or individual gets to choose a category and the host will read a question from that category aloud. Each question can only be asked once. The host will need to keep track of this by marking which ones have been used. For each correctly answered question, the team or individual is awarded one point. The first team or individual to accumulate 15 points wins the game.

All answers are final. There is only one question per turn. No question can be skipped. No electronic aids are to be used. (As a suggestion, the host can gather all the players’ cell phones and tablets until the game is finished.)

Categories: Toronto, Global Politics, Business & Economics, Sports, Geography, Entertainment, Science & Technology, Toronto Real Estate, and Miscellaneous

TORONTO

When was the last municipal election held?

October 27, 2014

Which of all Toronto’s mayors popularized the slogan: “Who’s better than Bad Boy?”

Mel Lastman

Name the 5 municipalities that surround the Old Toronto boundaries.

North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, East York and City of Toronto

What is the city’s main governing and legislative body?

Toronto City Council

Excluding the Mayor, how many seats are there in Toronto City Council?

44

What is the largest source of revenue for the City of Toronto?

Property taxes

What is the population of Toronto as per 2011 census?

The population of Toronto in 2011 was 2,615,060…and growing!

In what year did Rogers Communications buy the Skydome?

2005

GLOBAL POLITICS

In which month this year did Fidel Castro die?

November

Who became the 266th pope of the Catholic church in March 2013?

Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He replaced Pope Benedict XVI who resigned.

Name of the former CIA contractor who exposed a massive surveillance program named PRISM operated by the United States, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia?

Edward Snowden

Who is the world’s most powerful person according to Forbes?

Vladimir Putin

What did the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William & Kate Middleton) name their daughter, who was born last May?

Charlotte

Who is North Korea’s dictator?

Kim Jong-un, the young leader of North Korea who took over from his late father in 2011, Kim Jong-il

What is the name of Chile’s first woman President?

Michelle Bachelet

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

Who was the richest person in Toronto in 2012?

David Thomson

What are the biggest companies in the world by revenue?

Wal-Mart ($482 bn.), State Grid ($330 bn.), China National Petroleum ($299 bn.), Sinopec Group ($294 bn.), and Royal Dutch Shell ($272 bn.)

Based on GDP ranking, what’s the world’s wealthiest city?

Shanghai, China

A chartered plane traveling from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia crashed into a Colombian hillside in November, killing 71 of the 77 people aboard. The passengers included members of which Brazilian soccer team?

Chapecoense

Just recently, Jim Delligatti, passed away at the age of 98. Which famous burger did he create, that was first served at his restaurant in Uniontown, Pennsylvania in 1967 and swiftly became a national sensation?

The Big Mac

Which American luxury-jewellery retailer complained that traffic, protests and security at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan are hurting sales at its flagship store?

SPORTS

Name the 6 professional sports teams in Toronto.

Toronto Blue Jays (Major League Baseball), Toronto Raptors (National Basketball Association), Toronto Argonauts (Canadian Football League), Toronto Maple Leafs (National Hockey League), Toronto Rock (National Lacrosse League), and Toronto FC (Major League Soccer)

Which former Leafs coach passed away in May of this year?

John Brophy

When was the last time the Leafs won the cup?

1967

Where will the 2018 Winter Olympics be held?

Pyeongchang, South Korea

Where will the 2020 Summer Olympics be held?

Tokyo, Japan

Which sport has been dropped out of the 2020 Olympics?

Wrestling

Where was the Super Bowl final played in 2016?

At the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The final score was Denver Broncos 24,  Carolina Panthers 10.

Where will the FIFA 2018 World Cup be held?

Russia

Who won the 2016 MLB World Series ?

The Chicago Cubs for the first time in 108 years.

Who was the male Canadian Open 2016 winner?

Novak Dokovic

Who was the female Canadian Open 2016 winner?

Simona Halep

Who is the world’s oldest woman to claim the world number one ranking in tennis?

Serena Williams

Where was Basketball invented and by whom and when?

In the US, by a Canadian named James Naismith in 1891.

Who was the winner of first ever World Cup ski race?

Nancy Greene of Canada in 1967.

Name the Canadian winner of the first Olympic gold medal in the Men’s triathlon at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

Simon Whitfield of Kingston, Ontario.

Who is the youngest captain ever to win the Stanley Cup?

Sidney Crosby

What stadium did Toronto FC call home when they joined MLS in 2006?

BMO Field

GEOGRAPHY

What’s the largest fresh water lake in the world?

Lake Superior. On its own, it holds 10% of the world’s surface fresh water.

Name three countries which are completely surrounded by one other country?

Lesotho, Vatican City, and San Marino. Lesotho is surrounded by South Africa, while Vatican City and San Marino are both surrounded by Italy.

Which is the only American state to begin with the letter “p”?

Pennsylvania

Name the word’s largest island.

Greenland… I bet you said something more exotic!

In which country would you find Mount Kilimanjaro?

Tanzania

When did it snow in the Sahara desert?

February 1979, believe it or not!

Which is the only US state to ever have a king?

Hawaii

What is the original full Spanish name for Los Angeles?

El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río Porciúncula…it just rolls off your tongue, doesn’t it!

Where were the Canadian polar bear-shaped license plates used?

Nunavut, but only until 2012 when they were replaced by a colourfully designed one.

ENTERTAINMENT

Which was the highest grossing film of 2016 worldwide?

Captain America: Civil War

Who won the Academy award for best actress in 2016?

Brie Larson for her role in Room

Who won the Academy award for best actor in 2016?

Leonardo DiCaprio for his role in the Revenant

Which celebrity comedian and show host did President Barack Obama award the Medal of Freedom?

Ellen DeGeneres…who almost didn’t make it into the White House because she forgot her ID!

What is the longest running Broadway show?

The Phantom Of the Opera.

What is the name of the rapper who has made more money making headphones than he ever did making music?

Dr. Dre AKA Andre Romelle Young. Headphones are known as the “Beats” brand.

Who topped Forbes’ list of the World’s Highest-Paid Musicians of 2016?

Taylor Swift

Aside from sporting events, what is the top most viewed television show?

The Bing Bang Theory, bringing 20.6 million viewers in the 2015-2016 season (placing second to NFL Sunday Night Football)

Which legendary guitarist is known as “Slow Hand?”

Eric Clapton

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

How old is the World Wide Web?

26 years old. It was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990.

Which country houses the world’s largest telescope?

China. It was completed in September, 2016 and has a 500-metre aperture.

What was so special about the full moon on November 13/14, 2016?

It was the biggest, closest and brightest super moon since January of 1948. The next super moon will be in November of 2034.

Which planet has the longest days?

Venus! One day on Venus is equivalent to 224.65 Earth days.

Who is called the father of Internet?

Vint Cerf

Who is considered “the father (inventor) of the cell phone”?

Martin Cooper. He worked at Motorola in the ‘70s and conceived the idea and brought it to market. Thank God for that guy!

MISCELLANEOUS

What is the difference between poisonous and venomous?

If you bite it and you die, it is poisonous and if it bites you and you die it’s venomous.

In which Ontario suburb did the Anne of Green Gables author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, live?

Swansea

What are the three primary colours?

Red, yellow and blue

How many valves does a trumpet have?

Three

What was the Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year in 2016?

Post-truth

What flavour is Cointreau?

Orange

How old is a horse when it changes from a filly to a mare?

4 years old

TORONTO REAL ESTATE

How many houses were sold in Toronto in January 2016?

761, up from last year’s 692 sales.

What is the average selling price of a home in the GTA?

$776,684

How many Realtors are there in Toronto?

There are over 38,111 licensed Sales Representatives & Brokers as of Sept 2013. Only 4,000 of which are designated as Brokers.

Name 5 of the top 10 most expensive cities to purchase a home in. Hint, Toronto isn’t anywhere on the list.

Amount (in square meter) of luxury property that can be bought with $1 million USD:

As of the first week of December, how many homes sold in Toronto this year?

56,382

How many realtors are there in Toronto Real Estate Board?

46,523*, that’s a 9.04% increase! *as of Sept. 30th 2016

What did the most expensive house in the GTA sell for?

22 million dollars. What was it, you ask? A 7 bedroom, 14 bathroom home in the Bridal Path area and it sold for 82% of the asking price this past August.

What did the least expensive house in the GTA sell for?

A semi-detached bungalow near Black Creek and Weston Road sold for $275,000, 12% above the asking price. A garage (21’ x 27.33’) sold for $80,000 near Woodfield and Dundas.

Who should you call when you decide to find a new home or sell your current one?

Jethro Seymour, Broker Royal LePage R.E.S. Ltd, Johnston and Daniel Division, (416)-712-0767

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