February is the shortest month on the calendar and one of the busiest in history. Mandela walked out of prison in February. So did a mannequin in a Tesla, launched into orbit with “Don’t Panic” on the dashboard. Australia swapped pounds for dollars, Perth switched on its lights for an astronaut, and a Dutch-born speed skater won an Olympic gold medal because everyone else fell over.
This list has 150 questions across 10 categories, with the odd stories, the “wait, really?” facts and the things most people have never been asked. It works for trivia nights, classrooms, family dinners and group chats.
Read the question aloud, give everyone ten seconds, then reveal the answer.
150 February Trivia Questions (With Answers!)
The strange calendar of February
1. February is named after a Roman festival. What was the festival for?
Answer: Purification. It was called Februa, and the Latin verb februare means “to purify.”
2. In the original Roman calendar, which month started the year?
Answer: March. That is why September, October, November and December were once the seventh to tenth months.
3. The Romans made a leap day by counting one particular day twice, which gave us the word “bissextile.” Which day was repeated?
Answer: The sixth day before the Kalends of March (24 February), called bis sextus, “twice sixth.”
4. Which European country once had a 30 February?
Answer: Sweden, in 1712. A botched plan to drift from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar left it out of step, so it added an extra day to fix things.
5. Why was 1900 not a leap year, even though it divides by four, while 2000 was?
Answer: Century years only count as leap years if they divide by 400.
6. On 24 February 1582 a pope announced the calendar we still use. Which pope?
Answer: Gregory XIII, which is why it’s called the Gregorian calendar.
7. What are the odds that a random person was born on 29 February?
Answer: 1 in 1,461, because there are 1,461 days in a four-year cycle.
8. According to Irish tradition, women can propose to men on Leap Day. Which saint supposedly started this?
Answer: St Brigid, who is said to have asked St Patrick to give women the right.
9. In a non-leap year, February starts on the same day of the week as which two other months?
Answer: March and November.
10. In a non-leap year, how many times does each day of the week appear in February?
Answer: Exactly four.
11. February’s birthstone is the amethyst. What did the ancient Greeks believe it protected you from?
Answer: Drunkenness. The Greek word amethystos means “not intoxicated.”
12. The Polish name for February is luty. What does it relate to?
Answer: An old word meaning fierce or severe, a nod to bitter winter frosts.
13. According to tradition, why did the Romans give February an even number of days when every other month got an odd number?
Answer: Even numbers were thought unlucky, and February was the month of purification and the dead.
14. On Leap Day 1940, who became the first Black performer to win an Academy Award?
Answer: Hattie McDaniel, for Best Supporting Actress in Gone with the Wind.
15. Stranded in Jamaica in 1504, Columbus used a prediction about what event on 29 February to pressure locals into feeding his crew?
Answer: A lunar eclipse.
Valentine’s Day and the odd things that happened on 14 February
16. Which English poet is credited with first linking Valentine’s Day to romantic love, in a poem from the 1380s?
Answer: Geoffrey Chaucer, in The Parliament of Fowls.
17. The oldest surviving valentine poem was written by Charles, Duke of Orléans, in 1415. Where was he when he wrote it?
Answer: The Tower of London, held prisoner after the Battle of Agincourt.
18. The closest early ancestor of “Roses are red, violets are blue” appears in which poet’s 1590 epic The Faerie Queene?
Answer: Edmund Spenser.
19. Who is known as the “Mother of the American Valentine” for mass-producing lacy cards from Worcester, Massachusetts, in the 1840s?
Answer: Esther Howland.
20. Which chocolate company introduced the first heart-shaped box of chocolates in 1861?
Answer: Cadbury, under Richard Cadbury.
21. In which Shakespeare play does a character sing about St Valentine’s Day?
Answer: Hamlet. Ophelia sings it.
22. In Japan, who traditionally gives chocolate on 14 February, and who returns the favour a month later?
Answer: Women give chocolate to men, and men reply on White Day, 14 March.
23. What is Valentine’s Day called in Finland?
Answer: Friend’s Day (Ystävänpäivä).
24. On 14 February 1876, two inventors filed telephone patent documents on the same day. Which two?
Answer: Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray.
25. Two US states were admitted to the Union on 14 February, in 1859 and 1912. Name them.
Answer: Oregon and Arizona.
26. The 1929 St Valentine’s Day Massacre took place in which city?
Answer: Chicago. Seven men were killed in a garage.
27. Captain James Cook was killed on 14 February 1779 on which island group’s largest island?
Answer: Hawaii, at Kealakekua Bay.
28. On 14 February 1990, Voyager 1 turned its camera back and photographed Earth from about six billion kilometres away. Which astronomer pushed for the photo and named it?
Answer: Carl Sagan, who called it the “Pale Blue Dot.”
29. The domain youtube.com was registered on 14 February 2005. Name one of the three co-founders.
Answer: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen or Jawed Karim.
30. ENIAC, one of the first general-purpose electronic computers, was unveiled on 14 February 1946. Roughly how much did it weigh?
Answer: About 30 tons.
Famous people born in February
31. Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day. Which day and year?
Answer: 12 February 1809.
32. Thomas Edison, born 11 February 1847, held how many US patents?
Answer: 1,093.
33. Galileo was born on 15 February 1564. Which English scientist was born in the year Galileo died?
Answer: Isaac Newton (1642).
34. Born 19 February 1473, which astronomer argued the Earth orbits the Sun?
Answer: Nicolaus Copernicus.
35. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery and never knew his exact birthday. Which date did he choose?
Answer: 14 February.
36. Michael Jordan was born on 17 February 1963 in which New York borough?
Answer: Brooklyn.
37. Rosa Parks was born 4 February 1913. In which city did her 1955 bus protest happen?
Answer: Montgomery, Alabama.
38. Babe Ruth, Ronald Reagan and Bob Marley share a birthday. Which?
Answer: 6 February.
39. Steve Jobs was born 24 February 1955. From which country did his biological father come?
Answer: Syria.
40. Jules Verne was born 8 February 1828. Which of his novels features Captain Nemo?
Answer: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.
41. George Frideric Handel was born on 23 February 1685. Which other great composer was born the same year, about four weeks later?
Answer: Johann Sebastian Bach.
42. Johnny Cash and Elizabeth Taylor were born one day apart in 1932. Which days?
Answer: Cash on 26 February, Taylor on 27 February.
43. Susan B. Anthony was born 15 February 1820. What did she do in the 1872 US election that got her arrested?
Answer: She voted illegally, as a woman.
44. George Harrison was born 25 February 1943. Which of his songs did Frank Sinatra call the best love song of the past fifty years?
Answer: “Something.”
45. Charles Dickens was born 7 February 1812. Which of his novels was unfinished when he died?
Answer: The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Space and science
46. On 20 February 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth. How many orbits did he make?
Answer: Three, in Friendship 7.
47. In February 1971 Alan Shepard did something on the Moon that no one had done before. What?
Answer: He hit golf balls, using a six-iron head fixed to a sample tool.
48. On 7 February 1984, Bruce McCandless made the first untethered spacewalk. What was the backpack called?
Answer: The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
49. On 6 February 2018 a Falcon Heavy launched a Tesla Roadster into space. What was the mannequin driver called, and what did the dashboard say?
Answer: Starman, and “Don’t Panic.”
50. Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto on 18 February 1930. Who named it, and how old were they?
Answer: Venetia Burney, an 11-year-old schoolgirl in Oxford, England.
51. On 11 February 2016, scientists announced the first direct detection of what, predicted by Einstein a century earlier?
Answer: Gravitational waves.
52. On 22 February 2017, astronomers announced a system of how many Earth-sized planets around TRAPPIST-1?
Answer: Seven, about 40 light-years away.
53. Dolly the sheep was announced to the world on 22 February 1997. Which singer was she named after?
Answer: Dolly Parton, because she was cloned from a mammary gland cell.
54. On 28 February 1953, Watson and Crick announced they had worked out the structure of DNA. Whose X-ray photograph was crucial to their model?
Answer: Rosalind Franklin’s (Photo 51).
55. Three different missions reached Mars in February 2021. Name them or their countries.
Answer: The UAE’s Hope orbiter, China’s Tianwen-1 and NASA’s Perseverance rover.
56. On 15 February 2013, a meteor exploded over which country, injuring around 1,500 people mostly through broken glass?
Answer: Russia, over Chelyabinsk.
57. In February 1987 astronomers spotted the nearest supernova in centuries, in which galaxy?
Answer: The Large Magellanic Cloud (SN 1987A).
58. On 3 February 1966, the Soviet Luna 9 did what for the first time?
Answer: Made a controlled soft landing on the Moon.
59. On 12 February 2001, NEAR Shoemaker became the first spacecraft to land on what?
Answer: An asteroid (Eros), even though it wasn’t designed to land.
60. On Apollo 14, Stuart Roosa carried around 500 of what into lunar orbit, which later grew into “Moon trees”?
Answer: Tree seeds.
Music, film, TV and books
61. On 9 February 1964, roughly how many Americans watched the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show?
Answer: About 73 million.
62. Which Beatles song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 1 February 1964, just before that TV appearance?
Answer: “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
63. The Beatles recorded almost their entire debut album, Please Please Me, in a single day in February 1963. Which song did they leave for last?
Answer: “Twist and Shout.”
64. On 3 February 1959, three rock and roll stars died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. Name them.
Answer: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.
65. Which Don McLean song calls 3 February 1959 “the day the music died”?
Answer: “American Pie.”
66. George Gershwin premiered Rhapsody in Blue in New York on 12 February 1924. Who played the piano?
Answer: Gershwin himself.
67. On 9 February 2020, which film became the first non-English-language winner of Best Picture?
Answer: Parasite.
68. The finale of M*A*S*H aired on 28 February 1983. Roughly how many Americans watched it?
Answer: About 106 million.
69. French playwright Molière collapsed on stage on 17 February 1673 while performing in which of his own plays?
Answer: Le Malade imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid). He died hours later.
70. Ulysses was published on 2 February 1922, which was a milestone birthday for its author. Whose, and which birthday?
Answer: James Joyce’s 40th, published in Paris by Sylvia Beach.
71. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn appeared in the US in February 1885. Which Massachusetts town’s library banned it within weeks?
Answer: Concord.
72. Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours came out in February 1977. Roughly how many copies has it sold?
Answer: More than 40 million.
73. On 28 February 1984, Michael Jackson won a record number of Grammys. How many?
Answer: Eight.
74. David Letterman’s first late-night show premiered on 1 February 1982. What was it called?
Answer: Late Night with David Letterman.
75. Charles Schulz died on 12 February 2000. What ran in newspapers the next day?
Answer: His final original Peanuts Sunday strip.
Sport, winter and otherwise
76. On 22 February 1980 the US beat the Soviet Union 4–3 at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Which team did they still need to beat two days later to win gold?
Answer: Finland.
77. On 16 February 2002, who became Australia’s first-ever Winter Olympic gold medallist, after four rivals fell in the final turn?
Answer: Steven Bradbury, in the 1000m short track.
78. Which Australian won Winter Olympic gold in aerials at Salt Lake City in February 2002, a week or so after Bradbury?
Answer: Alisa Camplin.
79. In February 2010 at Vancouver, two Australians won Winter Olympic golds. One was Torah Bright. In which sport?
Answer: Snowboard halfpipe. The other, Lydia Lassila, won aerials.
80. In February 1988 at Calgary, a team from a tropical island made its Olympic debut and inspired a 1993 film. Which team and which film?
Answer: Jamaica’s bobsled team, and Cool Runnings.
81. Also at Calgary 1988, a British ski jumper finished last and became a celebrity. What was his nickname?
Answer: Eddie the Eagle (Michael Edwards).
82. The Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022 made Beijing the first city to do what?
Answer: Host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
83. On 25 February 1964, who beat Sonny Liston to become heavyweight champion?
Answer: Cassius Clay, later Muhammad Ali.
84. On 11 February 1990 in Tokyo, a 42-to-1 underdog knocked out Mike Tyson. Who?
Answer: James “Buster” Douglas.
85. The first Daytona 500, in February 1959, took three days to decide. Why?
Answer: A photo finish. Officials reviewed photos before declaring Lee Petty the winner over Johnny Beauchamp.
86. In February 2017 the Patriots came back from 28–3 down to beat the Falcons. What was historic about how it ended?
Answer: It was the first Super Bowl decided in overtime.
87. At the 1988 NBA Dunk Contest in Chicago in February, Michael Jordan took off from near which line?
Answer: The free throw line.
88. The first Winter Olympics, in Chamonix in early 1924, was originally called what?
Answer: International Winter Sports Week. The IOC renamed it afterwards.
89. On 14 February 1984, British ice dancers Torvill and Dean won gold in Sarajevo. Which piece of music did they skate to?
Answer: Ravel’s Boléro.
90. At Nagano 1998 in February, NHL players competed at the Olympics for the first time. Which country won the men’s hockey gold?
Answer: The Czech Republic.
World history in February
91. On 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison after how many years?
Answer: 27.
92. On 16 February 1923, who opened the sealed burial chamber of Tutankhamun?
Answer: Howard Carter.
93. Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed on 8 February 1587 at which castle?
Answer: Fotheringhay Castle.
94. In February 1945, the Yalta Conference brought together Roosevelt, Churchill and which third leader?
Answer: Joseph Stalin.
95. On 15 February 1942, Singapore fell to Japan. Roughly how many Australian troops were taken prisoner?
Answer: About 15,000.
96. On 19 February 1942, Japan attacked which Australian city?
Answer: Darwin. More than 240 Japanese aircraft took part.
97. On 2 February 1709, a Scottish sailor was rescued from a Pacific island after more than four years alone. His story inspired which novel?
Answer: Robinson Crusoe. The sailor was Alexander Selkirk.
98. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840. Which country celebrates that date?
Answer: New Zealand.
99. On 6 February 1952, Princess Elizabeth became queen while staying at a tree-top lodge in which country?
Answer: Kenya.
100. Britain switched to decimal currency on 15 February 1971. Before that, how many pennies made a pound?
Answer: 240.
101. Which US president arrived in China on 21 February 1972?
Answer: Richard Nixon.
102. On 11 February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced he would do something no pope had done in almost 600 years. What?
Answer: Resign.
103. Canada’s maple leaf flag was first raised on 15 February of which year?
Answer: 1965.
104. On 1 February 1960, four students sat down at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Which store was it?
Answer: Woolworth’s, starting a famous sit-in.
105. Marx and Engels published The Communist Manifesto in London on 21 February of which year?
Answer: 1848.
February in Australia
106. On 13 February 2008, which prime minister delivered the national apology to the Stolen Generations?
Answer: Kevin Rudd.
107. In February 1861, Burke and Wills reached the Gulf of Carpentaria but never saw open sea. Why not?
Answer: Mangrove swamps blocked their way to the coast.
108. Steve Irwin was born on 22 February 1962 in which Melbourne suburb?
Answer: Essendon.
109. Cathy Freeman was born on 16 February 1973 in which Queensland city?
Answer: Mackay.
110. A. B. “Banjo” Paterson was born on 17 February 1864. Which famous song did he write the words for?
Answer: “Waltzing Matilda.”
111. Australia switched to decimal currency on 14 February 1966. What name did Prime Minister Menzies want to give the new currency?
Answer: The Royal. The public preferred “dollar.”
112. Which Australian animal appeared on the original decimal 2-cent coin?
Answer: The frill-necked lizard.
113. Which South Australian city hosts a Fringe that starts in February and bills itself as the biggest arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere?
Answer: Adelaide.
114. Mon Repos near Bundaberg is famous for hatchlings emerging from about January to March. What animals?
Answer: Sea turtles, mostly loggerheads.
115. On 20 February 1935, Caroline Mikkelsen became the first woman to do what in Antarctica?
Answer: Set foot on the continent, at the Vestfold Hills.
116. On 7 February 1788, Governor Arthur Phillip formally proclaimed the colony of which Australian state?
Answer: New South Wales.
117. On 8 February 1913, Douglas Mawson staggered back to Cape Denison just in time to see what leaving?
Answer: His expedition’s ship, the Aurora. He had to spend a second winter in Antarctica.
118. When astronaut John Glenn passed over Perth on 20 February 1962, residents switched on their lights. What nickname did Perth earn?
Answer: The City of Light.
119. Which Australian city was founded in February 1804 and is the country’s second-oldest capital?
Answer: Hobart.
120. On 28 February 1966, Danish architect Jørn Utzon resigned from which building project?
Answer: The Sydney Opera House.
Festivals and traditions around the world
121. The Groundhog Day ceremony has been held since 1887 in which Pennsylvania town?
Answer: Punxsutawney.
122. The 1993 film Groundhog Day is set in Punxsutawney but was mostly filmed in which Illinois town?
Answer: Woodstock.
123. How does Punxsutawney Phil supposedly live so long?
Answer: His handlers say he sips an “elixir of life” every summer that gives him seven more years.
124. On 2 February, French families celebrate La Chandeleur by making what?
Answer: Crêpes. The tradition says to flip one with a coin in your other hand for a prosperous year.
125. In Japan, Setsubun is held around 3 February. What do people throw?
Answer: Roasted soybeans, to drive away demons.
126. The Olney Pancake Race has been run on Shrove Tuesday since 1445. In which English county?
Answer: Buckinghamshire.
127. “Mardi Gras” is French for what?
Answer: Fat Tuesday.
128. A New Orleans king cake traditionally hides a small plastic what? Whoever finds it buys the next cake.
Answer: A baby.
129. According to the Chinese zodiac legend, the rat won the race for first place by hitching a ride on which animal?
Answer: The ox.
130. St Brigid’s Day, 1 February, is marked in Ireland by making crosses from what?
Answer: Rushes.
131. Which Japanese city’s snow festival, which began in 1950 with a few snow statues, now draws millions?
Answer: Sapporo.
132. The Rio Carnival parades are staged in a purpose-built stadium designed by which famous architect?
Answer: Oscar Niemeyer. It’s the Sambadrome.
133. The Carnival of which Italian city is traditionally said to date back to 1162?
Answer: Venice.
134. The Quebec Winter Carnival’s mascot is a cheerful snowman. What is he called?
Answer: Bonhomme Carnaval.
135. World Thinking Day on 22 February marks the birthday of Robert Baden-Powell and also of whom?
Answer: His wife, Olave Baden-Powell. They shared a birthday.
Inventions and first-evers
136. Facebook launched on 4 February 2004 from a Harvard dorm room. What was it first called?
Answer: TheFacebook.
137. On 10 February 1996, IBM’s Deep Blue became the first computer to beat a reigning world champion in a game. Who was it?
Answer: Garry Kasparov, who still won the match 4–2.
138. Nylon was invented on 28 February 1935 by a chemist at which company?
Answer: DuPont. The chemist was Wallace Carothers.
139. Edison patented the phonograph on 19 February 1878. What were the first words he recorded?
Answer: “Mary had a little lamb.”
140. The Boeing 747 first flew on 9 February 1969. What was its nickname?
Answer: The Jumbo Jet.
141. On 8 February 1971, which stock market began trading as the world’s first electronic exchange?
Answer: NASDAQ.
142. The first section of the Oxford English Dictionary was published on 1 February 1884. How long did the full dictionary take to finish?
Answer: 44 years, completed in 1928.
143. On 21 February 1947, Edwin Land demonstrated a new kind of camera. What was it?
Answer: The Polaroid instant camera.
144. On 16 February 1968, the first call of this kind was made in Haleyville, Alabama. What was it?
Answer: The first 911 emergency call in the US.
145. On 23 February 1954, children in Pittsburgh began receiving mass trials of which vaccine?
Answer: Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine.
146. On 2 February 1925, which sled dog arrived in Nome, Alaska with diphtheria antitoxin, ending a 674-mile relay?
Answer: Balto, who has a statue in New York’s Central Park.
147. The core module of the space station Mir was launched on 19 February 1986. What does “Mir” mean in Russian?
Answer: Peace (and also “world”).
148. Heinrich Hertz was born on 22 February 1857. What unit is named after him?
Answer: The hertz, the unit of frequency.
149. Alessandro Volta was born on 18 February 1745. What did he invent in 1800?
Answer: The electric battery (the voltaic pile). The volt is named after him.
150. Which February-born inventor held 1,093 US patents, and which month-name inspired his birthday (11 February)?
Answer: Thomas Edison, whose birthday falls in February, the month named for the Roman purification festival Februa.