10-Question Quiz: February Holidays

Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. Again, this membership drive, we are doing a 10-question quiz each day. We'll have a different theme each day. Get two in a row right and you'll win a Brian Lehrer Show mug or a Brian Lehrer Show baseball cap, your choice. Again, with apologies for the last minute switch up, we'll do the broadcast news history quiz on Friday.

Today, it's February holidays because there are so many holidays in the month of February. We're going to start with Tom in the East Village, who's ready to play. Hey, Tom, sorry to switch it up on you. I know you were on hold for the broadcast news quiz, but ready to give February holidays a shot?

Tom: Well, thank you, Brian. I did all my studying on broadcast news, but I'm ready for February now. [chuckles]

Brian Lehrer: That's right. You did a quick history crawl during the three-minute newscast, right? All right, we're going to start off, of course, with Groundhog Day, which is on February 2. What's the name of the groundhog that New York City uses to predict whether there will be six more weeks of winter?

Tom: Oh, what's that guy? Staten Island Chuck.

Brian Lehrer: That is correct. There's been a succession of actual groundhogs to go by Staten Island Chuck. That's what we say, like Punxsutawney Phil for whatever creature in that part of Pennsylvania in a given year. That's one. One more, and you can choose between a hat and a mug. Question two, Staten Island Chuck has had two mishaps with mayors when they did their February 2nd photo ops. Can you say what happened in either one cases?

Tom: Yes, he bit somebody.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, I'm going to say that's good enough. Who did he bite? If you can tell us.

Tom: Oh, man. Can you give me a decade?

Brian Lehrer: Decade was the aughts.

Tom: The aughts. Was it Bloomberg?

Brian Lehrer: There was only one mayor. Right. Yes. Three-term Mike got bit. The other one was De Blasio dropped the poor thing.

Tom: De Blasio, yes.

Brian Lehrer: That Staten Island Chuck later died of their injuries. I actually think that Staten Island Chuck was a female, but she died of her injuries. All right, Tom, you did it. Hang on. Oh, do you want the Brian Lehrer Show baseball cap or the Brian Lehrer Show mug?

Tom: Well, we already proudly have your mug, so we will take your cap.

Brian Lehrer: Okay, Tom, hang on. All right. How about Julie in Bethel, Connecticut? You're on WNYC. Hi, Julie. Ready to play?

Julie: I am.

Brian Lehrer: Question three. On to the next February holiday, Valentine's Day, which is, of course, named after St. Valentine, and it has roots in both Christian and Roman traditions. It was first recorded as a day of romantic celebration in the medieval period. My question is, and you'll get a multiple choice list to choose from here, who is the famous medieval poet credited with coining the romantic concept of Valentine's Day? James Joyce, Herman Melville, St. Thomas Aquinas, or Geoffrey Chaucer?

Julie: I'm going to go for Chaucer, I think.

Brian Lehrer: Chaucer is right. Widely credited as the first English writer to associate romantic love with St. Valentine's Day. Comes from a line in a work called the Parliament of Fools, where he writes, "For this was sent on St Valentine's Day, when every fowl cometh there to choose his mate." Ha. Never a bad idea to-- [crosstalk]

Julie: Well, I want to give some credit to the Nightingale-Bamford School on 92nd Street for my knowledge of Geoffrey Chaucer.

Brian Lehrer: Actually got an education at school.

Julie: Yes, I did.

Brian Lehrer: Question four in the 10-question quiz for the hat or the mug, what other famed English writer and playwright, arguably the most famous playwright, helped to popularize the idea of Valentine's Day in one of his plays from not that different a time from Chaucer?

Julie: Oh, not a multiple choice. Okay, I'm just going to have to land on Shakespeare.

Brian Lehrer: Shakespeare is right. It was in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Would you like a hat or a mug?

Julie: I will pick a hat, please.

Brian Lehrer: A Brian Lehrer Show baseball cap coming to Julie in Bethel, Connecticut. Hang on. We'll take your address off the air. Next up, ready to play is Dan in Astoria. Dan, hi there. Are you ready to play?

Dan: I am ready.

Brian Lehrer: All right, question five. Next February holiday on the quiz docket is, drumroll, Presidents' Day. It's celebrated on the third Monday of every February. Now, in the New York City public schools, it merges two actual presidential birthdays the kids and teachers used to get off. Can you name both presidents and both actual birthdays that used to be school holidays?

Dan: Oh, man, I was hoping for just the first thing. Okay. Oh, I want to say Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

Brian Lehrer: That is right, but you got to give us the dates on this one.

Dan: Is it the 16th and the 18th?

Brian Lehrer: Oh, I'm going to have to go on, Dan. I'm so sorry. Lincoln's birthday is February 12th. Washington's birthday is February 22nd. I guess that's how much President's Day has actually collapsed those celebrations, because people don't know as much anymore. That was February 12th and February 22nd. All right. Who wants to play in our 10-question February holidays quiz? Who else wants to play? 212-433-WNYC. 212-433-9692. Like Thomas in Summit. Hi, Thomas. Ready to play?

Thomas: Hello, Brian. Yes, I am.

Brian Lehrer: We just talked about Washington and Lincoln's birthdays. Question six says Black History Month is observed in February also originally because of two people's birthdays. Who were they?

Thomas: Oh, Brian, I don't know.

Brian Lehrer: All right, sorry. It was Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. We talked about that in one of our Black History Month segments. 100 years ago, they launched the precursor to what is now Black History Month, and it was in February because it was already kind of a thing in the Black community around the country to celebrate Black history in February around the birthdays of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, and then it got broadened. Thomas, thank you for giving it a shot. Let's go out to Mike in Boise, Idaho, who's ready to play. Hi, Mike. Thanks for calling in. Hi, from New York today.

Mike: Hi, Brian. It's great to talk to you.

Brian Lehrer: Question seven. Two major religions are observing major holidays this month that do not always fall in February. Neither of them are always in February. Both of them are this year. Can you name either of those religious holidays? I will say it they are from two different religions.

Mike Sure. One is Islam, of course, because it's Ramadan.

Brian Lehrer: Correct.

Mike I would say the Christian faith because of Lent.

Brian Lehrer: That is exactly right. Ramadan moves through the year, and Lent, because it comes a certain number of days before Easter, can fall in February or March. All right, question nine, and for a Brian Lehrer Show baseball hat or Brian Lehrer Show mug. Now we've got Mardi Gras on the quiz docket, the grand finale before the more austere season of Lent, which began last Wednesday. Mardi Gras is all about leaning into indulgence before giving up your vices. The day before Lent, the actual day before Lent, is the most over-the-top of them all in the Mardi Gras tradition. What is that day called? The over-the-top day before Lent.

Mike I think it sounds politically incorrect, but it's Fat Tuesday, I think.

Brian Lehrer: It is politically incorrect. No fat shaming, but except when you can say Fat Tuesday. That is right. It's the last hurrah before things get a little more strange. Would you like a Brian Lehrer Show baseball cap or a Brian Lehrer Show mug?

Mike I'd love the mug, Brian. Thank you so much. I really love enjoying hearing you out here in Idaho.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Mike. Thank you very much. Hang on. We'll take your mailing address out there off the air. All right. We've given away a prize to New York, to New Jersey, to Connecticut, and now to Idaho. One more caller, because there's only one question left. We'll go to Kevin in Sunnyside. Hey, Kevin, you get the-- what should I call it? The advantage of getting the last question because you only have to get one in a row right when we only have one left. For you, I've been referring to last Wednesday as the beginning of Lent, but there is actually a name for the actual day, first day of Lent. What is it?

Kevin: Ash Wednesday.

Brian Lehrer: Ash Wednesday is correct. Would you like a Brian Lehrer Show baseball cap or Brian Lehrer Show mug?

Kevin: I'll take a hat.

Brian Lehrer: You'll take a hat, and we'll take your address off the air. Listeners, thanks for playing the February holidays quiz. We'll have a different quiz tomorrow, different quiz on Friday, different quiz every day of the membership drive. More to come today.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.

Produced by WNYC