46 history trivia questions and answers
From the pyramids and ancient Rome to great voyages, revolutions, civil rights and both world wars.
46 questions · History trivia questions and answers · answers included
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Questions 1–20
- 1
During which dynasty of ancient Egypt were the pyramids at Giza built?
hard
AnswerThe Fourth Dynasty
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giza_pyramid_complex?oldid=1365733545
- 2
Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?
easy
- 3
In which city was the Titanic built?
medium
- 4
What did the East German government begin constructing on 13 August 1961?
easy
- 5
Which empire used gladiators for public entertainment?
easy
- 6
In what year did Amelia Earhart make the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight by a woman?
hard
- 7
Which single ship carried the Pilgrims after Speedwell was left behind?
medium
- 8
Which writing material gave ancient Egypt the English word paper?
easy
- 9
By what year had Lord Stanhope built the first iron printing press?
hard
AnswerBy 1800
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press?oldid=1364130523#Industrial_printing_presses
- 10
Which city was buried by Mount Vesuvius in AD 79?
easy
- 11
Was the Silk Road one single road from China to the Mediterranean?
medium
AnswerNo: it was a web of many routes between China and the Mediterranean
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road?oldid=1364944151
- 12
Who issued the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States?
medium
AnswerAbraham Lincoln
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation?oldid=1365345055
- 13
Which nurse became known as the Lady with the Lamp?
medium
AnswerNightingale
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale?oldid=1358730807#The_Lady_with_the_Lamp
- 14
In which aircraft did the Wright brothers make the first sustained powered flight, at Kitty Hawk in 1903?
easy
- 15
What is the Constitution’s introductory paragraph called?
medium
AnswerThe Preamble
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States?oldid=1365316885#Preamble
- 16
In which year did King John seal Magna Carta?
medium
- 17
Which queen ruled the United Kingdom for most of the nineteenth century?
easy
- 18
What was discovered in Egypt in 1922 by Howard Carter?
medium
AnswerThe tomb of Tutankhamun
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_of_the_tomb_of_Tutankhamun?oldid=1363813832
- 19
Which revolution inspired the French Revolution of 1789?
medium
AnswerThe American Revolution
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Revolution?oldid=1364489801#Atlantic_Revolutions
- 20
Who led India’s nonviolent independence movement against British rule?
easy
Questions 21–40
- 21
What numbered amendment gave women the right to vote across the United States?
hard
AnswerThe Nineteenth Amendment
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution?oldid=1358314605
- 22
Which European explorer reached India by sailing around Africa in 1498?
medium
- 23
What name is given to the cultural rebirth that began in Italian cities?
easy
- 24
A castle moat kept siege towers and battering rams from reaching what?
easy
- 25
Who was canonized in 1920 and later declared a patron saint of France?
medium
- 26
Was democracy in ancient Athens direct or representative?
easy
AnswerDirect, rather than representative
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy?oldid=1364574459#Ecclesia
- 27
During the Second World War, was British rationing limited to food?
medium
AnswerNot restricted to food (clothes and petrol were rationed too)
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationing_in_the_United_Kingdom?oldid=1362715826
- 28
Which dynasty built much of the present Great Wall of China?
hard
AnswerThe Ming dynasty
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_Great_Wall?oldid=1364720353
- 29
How many years did the Hundred Years’ War actually last?
hard
- 30
Which carved stone, carrying one decree in three scripts, was the key to reading Egyptian hieroglyphs?
medium
AnswerThe Rosetta Stone
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone?oldid=1363760554
- 31
Which civilization developed a calendar with a Long Count in Mesoamerica?
medium
- 32
Who became South Africa’s first Black president in 1994?
easy
- 33
Which island in New York Harbor was once the busiest immigrant inspection station in the United States?
medium
- 34
Which conflict was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand?
easy
AnswerWorld War I
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand?oldid=1364675945
- 35
Name the two Japanese cities hit by atomic bombs in 1945.
easy
AnswerHiroshima and Nagasaki
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki?oldid=1365553557
- 36
Who became the first female Olympic victor as a chariot owner?
hard
AnswerCynisca
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_Games?oldid=1361027575#Equestrian_events
- 37
Whose armies does the Terracotta Army depict?
hard
- 38
Who led the Norman Conquest of England in 1066?
medium
AnswerWilliam the Conqueror (the Duke of Normandy)
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Conquest?oldid=1363795861
- 39
What did Gutenberg invent a method for mass-producing around 1440?
easy
- 40
Which people established a medieval settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows?
hard
Questions 41–46
- 41
Mansa Musa ruled the Mali Empire. What does his title, Mansa, mean?
medium
AnswerRuler, or king
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansa_Musa?oldid=1363724074#Name_and_titles
- 42
Which peace treaty was signed on 28 June 1919?
medium
AnswerThe Treaty of Versailles
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles?oldid=1359978507
- 43
How many ships did Columbus take on his first voyage west in 1492?
easy
AnswerThree
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyages_of_Christopher_Columbus?oldid=1365538919#First_voyage_(1492%E2%80%931493)
- 44
Which city hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896?
medium
- 45
What code name was used for the Allied invasion of Normandy?
medium
AnswerOperation Overlord
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Overlord?oldid=1365553534
- 46
Which city served as the Roman and Byzantine capital from 330 until 1453?
medium
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