History trivia questions offer more than just a test of knowledge - they're windows into the incredible stories, pivotal moments, and remarkable characters that shaped our world.
Join us as we explore some of the most intriguing quiz questions that will not only test your knowledge but also deepen your appreciation for the rich tapestry of human history.
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25 U.S History Trivia Questions with Answers
- Which U.S. president never lived in the White House?
Answer: George Washington (The White House was completed in 1800, after his presidency) - What was the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution?
Answer: Delaware (December 7, 1787) - Who was the first woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice?
Answer: Sandra Day O'Connor (Appointed in 1981) - Which president was never elected as president or vice president?
Answer: Gerald Ford - What year did Alaska and Hawaii become U.S. states?
Answer: 1959 (Alaska in January, Hawaii in August) - Who was the longest-serving U.S. president?
Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt (Four terms, 1933-1945) - Which state was the last to join the Confederacy during the Civil War?
Answer: Tennessee - What was the first capital city of the United States?
Answer: New York City - Who was the first U.S. president to appear on television?
Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt (At the 1939 World's Fair) - Which state was purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million?
Answer: Alaska - Who wrote the words to the "Star-Spangled Banner"?
Answer: Francis Scott Key - What was the first American colony to legalize slavery?
Answer: Massachusetts (1641) - Which president established the Peace Corps?
Answer: John F. Kennedy (1961) - What year did women gain the right to vote nationwide?
Answer: 1920 (19th Amendment) - Who was the only U.S. president to resign from office?
Answer: Richard Nixon (1974) - Which state was the first to grant women the right to vote?
Answer: Wyoming (1869, while still a territory) - What was the first national monument in the United States?
Answer: Devils Tower, Wyoming (1906) - Who was the first U.S. president to be born in a hospital?
Answer: Jimmy Carter - Which president signed the Emancipation Proclamation?
Answer: Abraham Lincoln (1863) - What year was the Declaration of Independence signed?
Answer: 1776 (Most signatures were added on August 2) - Who was the first president to be impeached?
Answer: Andrew Johnson - Which state was the first to secede from the Union?
Answer: South Carolina (December 20, 1860) - What was the first U.S. federal holiday?
Answer: New Year's Day (1870) - Who was the youngest person to become U.S. president?
Answer: Theodore Roosevelt (42 years, 322 days) - What year was the first American newspaper published?
Answer: 1690 (Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick)
25 World History Trivia Questions
Nowadays, many youngsters ignore learning history for plenty of reasons. Though how much you hate to learn about history, there is important and common knowledge related to history that all people must know. Let’s dig out what they are with the following history trivia questions and answers:
- Julius Caesar was born in which city? Answer: Rome
- Who painted the Death of Socrates? Answer: Jacques Louis David
- What part of history called a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political, and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages? Answer: The Renaissance
- Who is the founder of the Communist Party? Answer: Lenin
- Which of the cities in the world has the highest historical monuments? Answer: Delhi
- Who is also known as the founder of scientific socialism? Answer: Karl Marx
- Where did the Black Death bring the most severe impact? Answer: Europe
- Who discovered Yersinia pestis? Answer: Alexandre Emile Jean Yersin
- Where was the last place that Alexandre Yersin stayed before he died? Answer: Vietnam
- Which country in Asia was a member of the Axis in World War II? Answer: Japan
- Which countries were members of the Allies in World War II? Answer: Britain, France, Russia, China, and the USA.
- When did The Holocaust, one of the most terrible events in history happen? Answer: During World War II
- When did World War II start and end? Answer: It started in 1939 and ended in 1945
- After Lenin, who was officially the leader of the Soviet Union? Answer: Joseph Stalin.
- What was NATO's first name before its current name? Answer: North Atlantic Treaty.
- When did the Cold War happen? Answer: 1947-1991
- Who was named after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated? Answer: Andrew Johnson
- Which country belonged to the Indochina peninsula during French colonization? Answer: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
- Who is the famous leader of Cuba who had 49 years in power? Answer: Fidel Castro
- Which dynasty was considered The Golden Age in Chinese history? Answer: Tang dynasty
- Which King of Thailand contributed to making Thailand survive during European colonial? Answer: King Chulalongkorn
- Who was the most powerful woman in Byzantine history? Answer: Empress Theodora
- In which ocean did the Titanic sink? Answer: Atlantic Ocean
- When was the Berlin Wall removed? Answer: 1989
- Who delivered the famous “I Have a Dream” speech? Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.
- Which were China's Four Great Inventions? Answer: papermaking, the compass, gunpowder, and printing
30 True/False Fun History Trivia Questions
Do you know that history can be fun and interesting if we know how to dig out knowledge? Let’s learn about history, fun facts, and tricks to enrich your smartness with the below history trivia questions and answers.
51. Napoleon is known as the Man of Blood and Iron. (False, it is Bismarck, Germany)
52. The first newspaper in the world was started by Germany. (True)
53. Sophocles is known as the master of Greek? (False, it is Aristophanes)
54. Egypt is called Gift of the Nile. (True)
55. In ancient Rome, there is 7 days per week. (False, 8 days)
56. Mao Tse-tung is known as the Little Red Book. (True)
57. 1812 is the end of Wart of 1812? (False, it is 1815)
58. The first Super Bowl was played in 1967. (True)
59. Television was invented in 1972. (True)
60. Babylon is considered the largest city in the world of their time. (True)
61. Zeus assumed the form of a swan to deduce the Spartan queen Leda. (True)
62. Mona Lisa is a famous painting by Leonardo Davinci. (True)
63. Herodotus is known as the “Father of history”. (True)
64. Minotaur is the monstrous creature residing in the center of the Labyrinth. (True)
65. Alexander the Great was the king of ancient Rome. (False, ancient Greek)
66. Plato and Aristotle were Greek philosophers. (True)
67. The pyramids of Giza are the oldest of the wonders and the only one of the seven substantially in existence today. (True)
68. The Hanging Gardens are the only one of the Seven Wonders for which the location has not been definitively established. (True)
69. The Egyptian word "pharaoh" literally means "great house." (True)
70. The New Kingdom is remembered as a time of Renaissance in artistic creation, but also as the end of dynastic rule. (True)
71. Mummification has come from Greece. (False, Egypt)
72. Alexander the Great became the King of Macedon at the age of 18. (False. 120 years old)
73. The main goal of Zionism was to Establish a Jewish homeland. (True)
74. Thomas Edison was a German investor and businessman. (False, he is American)
75. The Parthenon was built in honor of the goddess Athena, who represented the human aspiration for knowledge and the ideal of wisdom. (True)
76. The Shang Dynasty is China's first recorded history. (True)
77. The 5th century B.C.E. was an amazing time of philosophical growth for ancient China. (False, it is 6thcentury)
78. In the Inca empire, Coricancha had another name called Temple of Gold. (True)
79. Zeus is the king of the Olympian gods in Greek mythology. (True)
80. The first newspapers published came from Rome, around 59 BC. (True)
30 Hard History Trivia Questions and Answers
Forget easy history trivia questions that anyone can quickly answer, it is time to level up your history quiz challenge with more difficult history trivia questions.
81. Which country did Albert Einstein live in before moving to the United States? Answer: Germany
82. Who was the first woman head of government? Answer: Sirimao Bandaru Nayake.
83. Which country was the first to give women the right to vote, in 1893? Answer: New Zealand
84. Who was the first ruler of the Mongol Empire? Answer: Genghis Khan
85. In which city was U.S. president John F. Kennedy assassinated? Answer: Dallas
86. What does the Magna Carta mean? Answer: The Great Charter
87. When did Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro land in Peru? Answer: in 1532
88. Who is the first woman to go to space? Answer: Valentina Tereshkova
89. Who has an affair with Cleopatra and makes her queen of Egypt? Answer: Julius Caesar.
90. Who is one of the most famous students of Socrates? Answer: Plato
91. Which of the following tribes does not share its name with a mountain peak? Answer: Bheel.
92. Who among the following emphasized the 'Five Relationships? Answer: Confucius
93. When did the "Boxer Rebellion" happen in China? Answer: 1900
94. Which city is the historical monument Al Khazneh located in? Answer: Petra
95. Who was prepared to exchange his English kingdom for a horse? Answer: Richard III
96. Whose winter residence did Potala Palace serve until 1959? Answer: Dalai Lama
97. What was the reason for the Black Plague? Answer: Yersinia pestis
98. Which type of aircraft was used to bomb Hiroshima in Japan during World War II? Answer: B-29 Superfortress
99. Who is known as the Father of Medicine? Answer: Hippocrates
100. Cambodia was devastated by which reign between 1975 and 1979? Answer: Khmer Rouge
101. Which countries weren’t colonized by Europeans in Southeast Asia? Answer: Thailand
102. Who was the patron God of Troy? Answer: Apollo
103. Where was Julius Caesar killed? Answer: In the Theater of Pompey
104. How many Celtic languages are still spoken today? Answer: 6
105. What did the Romans call Scotland? Answer: Caledonia
106. What was the Ukrainian nuclear power manufacturer that was the site of a nuclear disaster in April 1986? Answer: Chernobyl
107. Which Emperor built the Colosseum? Answer: Vespasian
108. The Opium War was a battle between which two countries? Answer: England and China
109. What famous military formation was made by Alexander the Great? Answer: Phalanx
110. Which countries fought in the Hundred Years’ War? Answer: Britain and France
25 Modern History Trivia Questions
It is time to test your smart with questions about modern history. It is about recent events happening and recording the most significant news around the world. So, let's check out the below
history trivia questions and answers.11. Who was awarded the Peace Noble Prize when she was 17 years old? Answer: Malala Yousafzai
112. Which country did a Brexit plan? Answer: The United Kingdom
113. When did Brexit happen? Answer: January 2020
114. Which country allegedly started with the COVID-19 pandemic? Answer: China
115. How many U.S. presidents are depicted on Mount Rushmore? Answer: 4
116. Where does the Statue of Liberty come from? Answer: France
117. Who founded Disney Studios? Answer: Walt Disney
118. Who founded Universal Studios in 1912? Answer: Carl Laemmle
119. Who is the author of Harry Potter? Answer: J. K. Rowling
120. When did the Internet become popular? Answer: 1993
121. Who is the 46th American president? Answer: Joseph R. Biden
122. Who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013? Answer: Edward Snowden
123. What year was Nelson Mandela freed from prison? Answer: 1990
124. Who was the first woman to be elected Vice President of the United States in 2020? Answer: Kamala Harris
125. Which fashion brand did Karl Lagerfeld work for as creative director from 1983 until his death? Answer: Channel
126. Who is the first British Asian Prime Minister? Answer: Rishi Sunak
127. Who had the shortest prime minister tenure in UK history, lasting 45 days? Answer: Liz Truss
128. Who has served as president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) since 2013? Answer: Xi Jinping.
129. Who is the world’s longest-serving leader so far? Answer: Paul Piya, Cameroon
130. Who is the first wife of King Charles III? Answer: Diana, Princes of Wales.
131. Who is the Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022? Answer: Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, or Elizabeth II
132. When did Singapore become independent? Answer: August 1965
133. Which year did the Soviet Union collapse? Answer: 1991
134. When was the first electric car introduced? Answer: 1870s
135. Which year was Facebook founded? Answer: 2004
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15 Easy True/False History Trivia Questions for Kids
Do you know that taking a quiz daily can help improve children's brainstorming ability? Ask your kids these questions to give them the best ideas about past history and broaden their knowledge.
136. Peter and Andrew were the first apostles known to follow Jesus. (True)
137. Dinosaurs are creatures that lived millions of years ago. (True)
138. Football is the world’s most popular spectator sport. (False, Auto Racing)
139. The first Commonwealth Games took place in 1920. (False, 1930)
140. The first Wimbledon tournament was held in 1877. (True)
141. George Harrison was the youngest Beatle. (True)
142. Steven Spielberg directed Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and ET. (True)
143. Pharaoh's title was given to the rulers of Ancient Egypt. (True)
144. The Trojan War took place in Troy, a city in Ancient Greece. (True)
145. Cleopatra was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty of ancient Egypt. (True)
146. England has the world’s oldest parliament. (False. Iceland)
147. A cat became a Senator in Ancient Rome. (False, a horse)
148. Christopher Columbus was known for his discovery of America. (True)
149. Galileo Galilei pioneered the use of the telescope to observe the night sky. (True)
150. Napoleon Bonaparte was the second emperor of France. (False, the first emperor)
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is history important?
5 key benefits include: (1) Understanding the past (2) Shaping the present (3) Developing critical thinking skills (4) Understanding cultural diversity (5) Fostering civic engagement
What was the most tragic event in history?
The Transatlantic Slave Trade (15th to 19th Century), as the European empires enslaved West African civilians. They put the slaves on cramped ships and forced them to endure deplorable conditions at sea, with minimal food supplies. Around 60 million African slaves were killed!
When is the best time to learn history?
It is important to start learning history early on in life, as it provides a foundation for understanding the world and its complexities, therefore the kids can start learning history as soon as they can.