89 Fun Facts About Prom

The word 'prom' is a shortened form of which word?

Promenade named the march of couples that opened a formal ball, from the French for 'to walk'; American students had clipped it to 'prom' by the 1890s.

An Amherst student's 1894 journal describes a trip to an early prom at which women's college in nearby Northampton?

Smith College held the dance: proms began at Northeastern colleges such as Harvard, Amherst and Smith in the late 1800s and only reached high schools in the early 20th century.

What form did the first high school proms take in the early 1900s?

A tea dance in Sunday best was the early 20th-century high school prom: seniors wore their church clothes to an afternoon dance; by the 1920s and 30s it had grown into a class banquet with dancing.

Which First Daughter held her senior prom in the East Room of the White House in 1975?

Susan Ford's Holton-Arms classmates had to raise the $1,300 cost themselves, because no government money could be spent on the dance, and her parents were abroad on a presidential trip that night.

What is the small bouquet a date traditionally gives a girl to wear on her dress or wrist?

A corsage was first the bodice of a dress: the flowers were a 'bouquet de corsage', a bouquet for the bodice, and the name slipped from the dress to the flowers pinned on it.

What is the flower a girl traditionally gives her date to wear on his lapel called?

A boutonnière is French for 'buttonhole', the lapel slit the flower's stem was traditionally pushed through; today most are simply pinned to the jacket instead.

Which rapper's 2009 rock single 'Prom Queen' led his album Rebirth?

Lil Wayne put out 'Prom Queen' in January 2009 as the first single from his rock album Rebirth, but the album was pushed back again and again and did not arrive until February 2010.

At which traditional school dance do the girls invite the boys, reversing the usual custom?

A Sadie Hawkins dance is named after a 1937 Li'l Abner comic strip in which the unmarried women of Dogpatch chased the town's bachelors in a foot race and married the ones they caught.

What are the lavish red-carpet family parties thrown at home on prom day called?

Send-offs are a fixture of prom day in Chicago's Black community: relatives and neighbours cheer the teens down a red carpet, and the adults' party often carries on after the couple has left.

In England, the Year 11 school prom is usually held after which exams?

GCSEs end in early summer and the Year 11 prom follows; the American-style prom only took hold in British schools in the 2000s, pushing aside the old end-of-term disco.

At Scottish school formals, what do boys usually wear?

Kilts are the usual choice for boys at Scottish school formals: Highland dress outfitters often sell out around prom season, and traditional Scottish country dancing is part of the night.

What is the Polish equivalent of prom, held about a hundred days before final exams, called?

Studniówka comes from sto dni, 'a hundred days', the countdown to the matura exam; by tradition the girls wear a red garter under their gowns, which is said to bring luck in the exams.

In Finland, the second-year class holds a formal ball each February to celebrate becoming what?

The school's oldest students is what they become when the final-year class leaves to study for its exams, so the ball is called vanhojen tanssit, 'the dances of the old ones'.

Which traditional dance is the centrepiece of the Danish school prom, known as the galla?

Les Lanciers, a quadrille for four couples, reached Denmark in the 1860s and fell out of fashion across the rest of Europe, but Danish high schools still teach it for the annual gala.

At Hungary's szalagavató ball, what is pinned on each final-year student to wear until graduation?

A ribbon gives the ball its name: szalagavató means 'inauguration of ribbons', and receiving it marks the first step towards graduation.

In most of the Republic of Ireland, what is a school leavers' dance called?

A Debs borrows its name from the debutante ball, though the school version is far less formal; boys' and mixed schools often call theirs 'the Grad', and County Donegal says 'the Prom' or 'the Formal'.

What is the South African equivalent of prom, held in the final year of high school, called?

The Matric Dance is held in matric, South Africa's final school year (Grade 12); it is usually organised by the Grade 11 class, and its cost is often compared to a wedding.

Which actor paid for the first racially integrated prom at a high school in Charleston, Mississippi, in 2008?

Morgan Freeman, who lives in Charleston, first made the offer in 1997 and was turned down; the school accepted in 2008, and the documentary Prom Night in Mississippi followed that year's seniors.

Which pop star threw her fans a prom with the 2021 concert film Sour Prom?

Olivia Rodrigo had only just graduated from high school herself when she celebrated her chart-topping debut album, Sour, by livestreaming a prom for her fans on YouTube.

In Carrie, what is dumped on the title character after she is crowned prom queen?

Pig's blood fills the bucket: Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan drain it from pigs they kill at a farm, and her friends switch the ballots so that Carrie is crowned and drenched on stage.

Who plays Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 film Carrie?

Sissy Spacek had to fight for the audition: her husband Jack Fisk, the film's art director, talked Brian De Palma into seeing her, and she turned up with Vaseline rubbed into her hair.

Who did Andie end up with in Pretty in Pink's original ending, which test audiences booed?

Duckie, played by Jon Cryer, got Andie in the original ending; after test audiences booed, the finale was reshot so she chose Blane, with Andrew McCarthy wearing a wig because he had cut his hair for a stage role.

Pretty in Pink takes its title from a song by which band?

The Psychedelic Furs re-recorded their 1981 song for the film, whose reshot ending also needed new music: OMD wrote 'If You Leave' for it in under 24 hours.

In Footloose, why does Ren McCormack challenge the town's dancing ban?

So the school can hold a senior prom is Ren's goal: he petitions the Bomont town council to lift its dance ban, quoting Bible passages that celebrate dancing, but the council votes him down.

Which real town, where public dancing had long been outlawed, loosely inspired Footloose?

Elmore City, Oklahoma had outlawed public dancing since before statehood; in 1980 its high school juniors asked to hold a dance, the school board's deciding vote went their way, and the film renamed the town Bomont.

In Napoleon Dynamite, which song does Napoleon dance to in Pedro's election skit?

'Canned Heat' by Jamiroquai is the track: Napoleon learned his moves from a D-Qwon's Dance Grooves video, got the tape from Kip's girlfriend LaFawnduh, and danced it as Pedro's campaign skit.

Which 2018 comedy follows three parents who uncover their daughters' prom-night pact?

Blockers has the parents, played by Leslie Mann, John Cena and Ike Barinholtz, read the girls' group texts as they pop up on a laptop, then chase them across prom night to stop the pact.

Which song became a hit as the theme of the prom-bet comedy She's All That?

'Kiss Me' by Sixpence None the Richer was the film's theme, and after She's All That opened at number one in January 1999 the song climbed to number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

10 Things I Hate About You is based on which Shakespeare play?

The Taming of the Shrew gives the film its sisters and its in-jokes: Kat and Bianca keep the play's names, and Padua High is named for the city where Shakespeare set the story.

Which Frankie Valli song does Patrick sing to Kat in 10 Things I Hate About You?

'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' is what Patrick sings with the school marching band behind him; Kat repays him by helping him escape detention, then grows suspicious when he pushes her to attend prom.

At the end of Twilight, what does Edward refuse to do when Bella asks him at the prom?

Turn her into a vampire is what Bella asks for at prom; Edward refuses, and the film ends on Victoria, mate of the vampire the Cullens have just killed, watching the pair and plotting revenge.

In Mean Girls, at which school dance is Cady elected queen?

The Spring Fling is where Cady Heron is crowned; she snaps the plastic tiara into pieces and shares them with the crowd, making peace with Janis, Damian and the Plastics.

In Never Been Kissed, why does 25-year-old Josie Geller go back to high school?

She is a reporter working undercover: Josie, a Chicago Sun-Times copy editor, is sent to pose as a student for a story, and flashbacks reveal her own prom night when date Billy Prince showed up with another girl.

Which scream queen stars as Kim Hammond in the 1980 slasher Prom Night?

Jamie Lee Curtis made Prom Night in Toronto soon after Halloween, and director Paul Lynch has said he struggled to raise the money for the film until she signed on.

Why were Prom Night's dance-floor songs written from scratch in five days?

The rights to real hits were too expensive, so composers Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer wrote soundalike disco tracks in five days to match the songs the actors had already danced to on set.

In the Friends episode 'The One with the Prom Video', Phoebe says Ross is Rachel's what?

Lobster is Phoebe's word for a mate for life, and the old video backs her up: it shows Ross dressing up to take a stood-up Rachel to the dance, only for her date to arrive after all.

Who plays fading Broadway diva Dee Dee Allen in Netflix's 2020 film of the musical The Prom?

Meryl Streep plays Dee Dee, who leads a band of out-of-favour actors to Indiana to champion a teenager barred from taking her girlfriend to the dance, hoping the good deed will revive their careers.

How did a Mississippi school board stop Constance McMillen bringing her girlfriend to prom in 2010?

Cancelled the dance is what Itawamba County's board did; a federal judge ruled her rights had been violated, and the district later settled, paying her damages and adopting a policy against such discrimination.

Which Friday Night Lights actress plays class president Nova Prescott in Disney's 2011 film Prom?

Aimee Teegarden, the coach's daughter Julie in the series, plays Nova, whose prom decorations burn down in a shed fire, leaving her to rebuild them with reluctant rebel Jesse Richter.

In Grease, the big Rydell High dance is broadcast live by which fictional TV show?

National Bandstand, hosted by DJ Vince Fontaine, televises the Rydell dance-off; Danny wins with Cha-Cha DiGregorio after Sandy is pushed off the floor, and the T-Birds moon the cameras.

Which Hairspray actress plays Donna Keppel in the 2008 remake of Prom Night?

Brittany Snow plays Donna, whose prom at a luxury hotel is stalked by the obsessed former teacher who murdered her family, while a detective races to stop him.

Which 1999 comedy follows four friends who vow to lose their virginity by prom night?

American Pie (1999) follows Jim, Kevin, Oz and Finch, who make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night; Jason Biggs's Jim ends up with band-camp flautist Michelle.

Why do Russian schools avoid holding proms on 21 or 22 June?

Graduates were drafted in 1941: Soviet schools held their proms on 21 June, hours before Germany invaded, and 22 June is now Russia's Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, when entertainment is cancelled.

On prom day in High School Musical 3, Troy travels to dance with Gabriella at which university?

Stanford is where Gabriella has gone ahead of graduation, so Troy travels there on prom day for a dance of their own, and later picks nearby Berkeley for college to stay close to her.

Which dance traditionally opens the pre-exam ball held by Polish school leavers?

The polonaise, a stately Polish walking dance, is always the first dance of the night, performed by the final-year students with their partners and often their teachers after rehearsing it beforehand.

In Germany, the formal ball held after secondary school ends is named after which exam?

Abitur comes from a Latin word for someone about to leave, and the Abiball is the leavers' formal dance; Austria's equivalent, the Maturaball, is named after the Matura exam instead.

Which Taylor Swift video ends with the girl next door ditching her glasses and winning the boy at prom?

'You Belong with Me' has Swift play both the girl next door and her cheerleader rival; the video won Best Female Video at the 2009 MTV VMAs, where Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech.

Which star of The Office DJed a live-streamed virtual prom for locked-down students in April 2020?

John Krasinski staged it on Some Good News, the YouTube show he made at home during lockdown, and the Jonas Brothers and Billie Eilish dropped in to perform for students missing their own dances.

At the end of Bangladesh's 'Rag Day', graduating students mark the occasion by doing what?

Playing with powdered colours ends the day: the class wears matching white T-shirts made for the occasion, which finish covered in colour and in classmates' signatures.

In which James Stewart classic does a gym floor open over a swimming pool during a school dance?

It's a Wonderful Life shot the scene at Beverly Hills High School, where the gym really does hide a swimming pool beneath its floor, one still in use more than 75 years later.

Which rock and roll classic does Marty McFly play at the 1955 school dance in Back to the Future?

Johnny B. Goode nearly missed the film: Chuck Berry withheld permission to use it until the day before shooting, and the director considered cutting the number because it did not advance the story.

Which household product must prom outfits be made from to win a 'Stuck at Prom' scholarship?

Duct tape gowns and suits have been entered by about 8,000 students, and by 2023 the Duck brand contest had handed out more than half a million dollars in scholarships.

The tuxedo many boys rent for prom takes its name from an elite enclave in which US state?

New York's Tuxedo Park, a Hudson Valley retreat for the wealthy, is where the jacket was so often seen in the 1880s that Americans took to calling it a tuxedo.

Which US president dropped in on a Burbank high school's senior prom after a hotel double-booked his fundraiser?

John F. Kennedy walked in on the John Burroughs High School dance in June 1963 and spoke with the students. Burbank dedicated its next Tournament of Roses float to him.

Which author's debut novel ends with a bullied telekinetic teenager destroying her high school prom?

Stephen King gave up on Carrie and binned its opening pages; he finished the book only because his wife Tabitha rescued them from the trash and persuaded him to keep writing.

In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker's date to the school dance is the daughter of which villain?

The Vulture, played by Michael Keaton, is Liz's father Adrian Toomes, who works out on the night of the dance that her date is Spider-Man and threatens him.

Which former NFL quarterback's foundation runs Night to Shine, a prom for people with special needs?

Tim Tebow, the Heisman winner whose kneeling prayer became known as Tebowing, set the event up to give people with developmental and intellectual disabilities a prom of their own.

After their prom, Russian school-leavers traditionally gather at a spot such as Moscow's Sparrow Hills to watch what?

The sunrise closes the celebration: after the diplomas and a school waltz, classmates traditionally walk all night and greet the morning together.

In Britain, 'the Proms' is a BBC summer festival of classical concerts held mainly at which venue?

Royal Albert Hall became the festival's home only after its original venue, the Queen's Hall, was devastated beyond repair by a wartime air raid.

Who plays Andie Walsh, who makes her own prom dress from two others, in 1986's Pretty in Pink?

Molly Ringwald also set the film in motion: she introduced writer John Hughes to the song that shares its name, which inspired him to write the screenplay.

Which Australian plays Patrick Verona, the bad boy paid to date Kat, in 10 Things I Hate About You?

Heath Ledger was found only three and a half weeks before filming began, after the producers had already seen more than 1,000 hopefuls for the role.

Which Netflix series ends its second season with a middle-school winter formal called the Snow Ball?

Stranger Things finally lets its young heroes dance, Mike with Eleven and Lucas with Max, while the Mind Flayer watches them from the Upside Down.

The 1999 prom-queen bet comedy She's All That is a modern take on which George Bernard Shaw play?

Pygmalion had already been filmed as My Fair Lady; this version swaps the phonetics professor for a jock with six weeks to turn a nerdy outcast into the most popular girl in school.

Which pop star's hit gave the 1999 Melissa Joan Hart school-dance comedy Drive Me Crazy its title?

Britney Spears had the song on the soundtrack, so the studio dropped the original title Next to You and renamed the whole film after her single.

Which author of Speak wrote the 2005 novel Prom, about a senior roped into saving her school dance?

Laurie Halse Anderson saw the book reach the New York Times best-seller list in early 2005, and reviewers gave it three starred notices.

In The Simpsons episode 'The Way We Was', which classmate takes Marge to the prom instead of Homer?

Artie Ziff, voiced by guest star Jon Lovitz, turns out to be a terrible date, and Marge ends the night realising that Homer is the one she really wants.

In Disney's 2011 film Prom, what destroys the shed where the decorations for the dance are stored?

A fire starts when a candle is left burning after a date in the shed, leaving Nova Prescott to rebuild the props alongside a rebel who has been ordered to help her.

Who plays Josie Geller, who gets a second shot at her senior prom, in 1999's Never Been Kissed?

Drew Barrymore's Josie still carries the memory of her first prom, when her date turned up with another girl and the pair pelted her with eggs.

Who plays Ren McCormack, the city teenager who moves to small-town Bomont, in 1984's Footloose?

Kevin Bacon gambled on the role: he passed up the lead in the horror film Christine, which he had already been offered, to take a screen test for Footloose instead.

Which future A-lister plays Billy Nolan, boyfriend of the lead bully, in the 1976 prom horror Carrie?

John Travolta had his first significant movie role as Billy Nolan, landing it around the time he won his star-making sitcom part as Vinnie Barbarino.

The cummerbund, the pleated sash worn with a dinner jacket, was adopted by British officers serving where?

India is where British officers saw sepoys wearing the sash and took it up as an alternative to the waistcoat, before it spread to civilian evening dress.

In Netflix's The Prom, fading Broadway stars descend on the small town of Edgewater in which state?

Indiana is where the actors arrive with a touring cast of Godspell in tow, hoping that championing a teenager called Emma Nolan will revive their own careers.

In Glee's episode 'Prom Queen', which student is elected queen as a cruel prank despite never running?

Kurt Hummel runs from the gym in humiliation when the result is read out, and his date Blaine follows to console him.

Who plays the title role in Lady Bird, a senior who ditches her date to take her best friend to prom?

Saoirse Ronan won the part at a script read-through in a hotel room, where director Greta Gerwig knew by the second page that she had found her lead.

Which band's 'Teenage Dirtbag' video ends with Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari dancing on prom night?

Wheatus borrowed both actors from the film Loser, which features the song, and the full cut of the video reveals that the whole romance was only a dream.

The 2005 young-adult novel Prom follows senior Ashley Hannigan at a school just outside which city?

Philadelphia's outskirts are home to Ashley, who narrates in the first person amid loud Irish aunts and a mother expecting her fifth child.

Which country singer's 1957 hit is about a boy in a white sport coat left without a date for the dance?

Marty Robbins is said to have got the idea after driving past a high school on prom night; the single topped the country chart and reached number two on the pop chart.

In Mean Girls, what does Cady Heron do with her tiara after being voted queen of the school dance?

Breaks it up to share: Cady snaps the tiara and hands the pieces around the crowd, making peace with Janis, Damian and the Plastics in a single gesture.

Which Canadian actor, later famous for spoof comedies, plays Kim Hammond's father in 1980's Prom Night?

Leslie Nielsen was hired as one of Canada's most experienced actors, and the slasher proved one of his last serious films before he spent the rest of his career in comedy.

Proms became common in British schools in the 2000s, apparently thanks to the influence of what?

American films and TV made the event familiar; by 2012 one newspaper reported that more than 85 percent of British schools held one, from hall dinners to five-star hotel extravaganzas.

In which country is the big school dance commonly known as the JS prom, short for junior-senior?

The Philippines holds its JS proms around February or March, bringing the junior and senior classes together for one formal night.

In Netflix's The Prom, Nicole Kidman's Angie has just quit the chorus line of which Broadway musical?

Chicago kept Angie in the chorus without ever handing her the lead role of Roxie Hart, the part she craves; being passed over once more is what makes her walk out.

Who plays Randy, the Hollywood punk who brawls his way onto the prom stage, in 1983's Valley Girl?

Nicolas Cage took his first credit under that name here, in a romance loosely based on Romeo and Juliet with a valley girl and a city punk as the lovers.

In the 2005 novel Prom, what does math teacher Miss Crane do that puts the senior dance in doubt?

Steals the funds: with the money embezzled, Ashley's best friend Nat drags her into a frenzied campaign to stage a whole new dance in under two weeks.

Which R&B singer's 2017 debut album Ctrl includes a pop song about teen angst titled 'Prom'?

SZA built the track over muted guitars that reviewers compared to the Police, on an album delayed for so long that she publicly threatened to quit.

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer's episode 'The Prom', which award do her classmates surprise Buffy with?

Class Protector is the whole school's thank-you for her work stopping monsters, handed over on a night when she has already killed three hellhounds to keep the dance safe.

The Prom's Broadway cast made history in 2018 with the first LGBTQ kiss broadcast from which annual event?

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade had never broadcast a same-sex kiss until actresses Caitlin Kinnunen and Isabelle McCalla shared one mid-song, in the same month the show opened on Broadway.

In Grease, who cuts in on Sandy and wins the school dance contest with Danny?

Cha-Cha arrives as the date of Kenickie, brought along purely out of spite, and her win sends Sandy storming off the dance floor.

Which future Succession star plays Lloyd, the shy student with no date, in Disney's 2011 film Prom?

Nicholas Braun, later Cousin Greg, was part of a deliberately unknown cast: Disney kept the budget low and hoped the film would launch new stars and a franchise.