The Ultimate New Year's Quiz

The pattern that an aerial shell paints in the sky depends on the arrangement of star pellets inside the shell.

The place that was the first to celebrate New Year's on Jan. 1, 2000, was situated along the International Date Line, which runs through the Pacific Ocean slightly to the west of Hawaii. Hawaii was therefore one of the very last places to celebrate the new year.

Avoid using scissors or knives, or else you may cut off your chances for a lucky new year.

The Times Square celebration started in 1904 to commemorate the opening of the new headquarters of the New York Times.

Spaniards traditionally eat 12 grapes at midnight -- one for each month of the new year. The tradition began in 1909 as a way to consume the grape surplus in the Alicante region.

Some people eat cabbage and other greens, as well as lentils and peas, to bring good financial luck; pork, on the other hand, symbolizes progress.

Because lobsters walk backwards, they symbolize regression to some people.

Hungarians burn effigies of Jack Straw, an imaginary man meant to symbolize evil.

Scots welcome the new year with celebrations they call Hogmanay that begin on New Year's Eve.